Mind War
by Cygnus Crux
Summary: Completed. Sequel to Harry Potter's Existence after Life. Something is festering in the wizarding wolrd and the past will come back to haunt Harry. AU Since the release of OotP. I hope you'll enjoy this story just the same.
1. Smoke and Mirrors

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Disclaimer: This story is based on characters and situations created and owned by JK Rowling, various publishers including but not limited to Bloomsbury Books, Scholastic Books and Raincoast Books, and Warner Bros., Inc as well as ideas from other sources of Wizards of the Coast, Inc. No money is being made and no copyright or trademark infringement is intended.

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Mind War

Smoke and Mirrors

Chapter 1

Harry glanced at his tall companion. "Wands out?"

"Shucks, where's the fun in that?"

Harry smirked. Wolfe liked to get a workout from fighting vampires, only resorting to using his wand when every other available option had been exhausted.

They'd been at this for three weeks. Harry, Wolfe, Khan and Mordecai would be sent into the compounds revealed by the captured Velkowski to secure them one by one. They'd function as shields for the Rangers who weren't quite as accomplished fighters, Rangers like Wortelgraaf and the half-goblin Docmor the Diligent, who both specialised in Curse Breaking. Their task was to sweep the compound for booby traps.

They hadn't encountered any opposition in the other compounds, which had all been deserted by the time they arrived there. Anastasiou, the vampire overlord, had ordered them evacuated. A wise decision if you were an impartial observer. But Harry was hardly an impartial observer, and it gave him even more incentive to kill the vampire, for all this patrolling had kept him away from Ginny for three whole weeks.

"Set your goggles to night vision," Wolfe said.

"Way ahead of you."

"Good"- Wolfe drew his wand- "And wands out!"

Harry frowned behind the goggles, but he knew better than to question Wolfe in a battlefield situation, and drew his wand.

"Any problems?" Khan's voice sounded in his ear-piece.

"Infrared," Wolfe muttered, staring into the bushes ahead of them. "See that?"

Harry knew that the images from their goggles made their way back to screens in the nearby Cruiser, and someone else was seeing what Wolfe was seeing.

"Three lower body temperatures, undead. One warm one," Khan's voice sounded. "Easy pickings!"

"Too easy!" Wolfe and Harry said at the same time.

"Too easy," Khan agreed from his station in the Cruiser. "I'm sending out a detection pulse."

Harry and Wolfe waited for Khan's findings.

Khan's voice returned. "Three more on your right flank, seven behind you, all undead."

"Fourteen against two. Not fair," Wolfe muttered.

"There should be at least three dozen of them for it to be fair," Harry said, grinning. 

"Don't get cocky, kid. If there are a couple of centennials among them, this could get nasty. You'll kill half, and I'll kill half?"

"Let's make it a contest. The wizard counts double…"

"Quit the chatter, the net is closing!" Khan warned.

"Kid, let's get out of here," Wolfe said suddenly. "Something stinks. Apparate to the Cruiser!"

Harry nodded and Apparated, or rather tried to Apparate, but nothing happened.

"Great Maker, we're in trouble … Incoming!" Wolfe screamed, as a small round object flew towards them. Wolfe raised his off hand and banished it, keeping his wand free to fight. The object flew back the way it had come, and a green glow washed over the bushes. Soon, the leaves would start falling from the dead bushes, because that had been a Killing Curse. They were throwing Curse Capsules. 

"Magical Object Detection," Harry ordered his goggles, and soon he saw several more round objects light up his screen. "_Lumos Solarum_!" he bellowed, channelling a good deal of power into his spell. 

The anguished shrieks of vampires met his ears, as well as some of Wolfe's swearwords. His spell had produced enough light to overload the Vision Enhancement Goggles temporarily, so Harry quickly shoved them onto his forehead. "Wolfe, we have to go left."

"No, they've seeded the ground with Curse Capsules. Even I can't jump over them. We go right, straight through them!"

"Wait, I have an idea!" Harry said. "Cover me for ten seconds." This was a spell Merlin had taught him in the Mirror Realm. He concentrated on his center and unlocked the power deep inside him. He was dimly aware of Wolfe's magic, banishing the incoming Capsules. He stirred his wand in the air, deepened his concentration and felt the wind around him, bending it to his will. Soon the wind speed picked up, and dust began to swirl upwards. He'd created a cyclone. 

He directed the cyclone to the vampires' hiding place and let it sweep through the bushes, plucking the shrieking vampires off the ground.

"Potter, are you doing that?" Khan's voice asked. 

Harry grunted in affirmation. Speech would probably break his concentration. He directed the cyclone towards the vampires and the lone wizard on his right, and soon they too were helplessly caught in the whirlwind. Then he forced the tornado to go forward to sweep up the remaining opposition, but those vampires were beating a hasty retreat.

"Get 'em!" Harry gasped, and Wolfe took off after them. "Help!" he called into his broadcaster.

"On the way," a female voice answered. Someone had taken over for the Pakistani wizard, meaning that he was on his way.

Moments later a tiger landed next to Harry and transformed into a man. "Lumos Solarum!" 

The ten vampires inside the whirlwind howled in pain, as the light washed over them, but it wasn't enough, because the dust and debris gave them a modicum of protection against the light. 

Occasionally, a vampire drifted to the edge of the vortex, causing his limbs to stick out of it, blackening at the touch of light. But at this rate it would take too long. "Can't hold out much longer!" Harry said in a strained voice. He blinked his eyes, trying to keep the sweat out of them. 

Khan quickly filled his Curse Capsules with the sunlight spell. "You can drop the tornado… I'm ready for them."

Harry ceased his efforts and the tornado dissipated, causing the wizard to come crashing to the ground. The toasted vampires managed to land on their feet. The tornado had left them a bit dizzy, and it would take a while before they could orient themselves. Before they could do so however, they were faced with the burst of sunlight from Khan's capsules. They burst into flames and crashed to the ground, twitching for a minute before going still. Then they began to rapidly decompose. 

Harry was on his knees, catching his breath as Khan's hand clapped him on the shoulder. 

"Nice work, kid!"

Harry glanced around and saw the wizard already tied up and ready for transport. He wasn't looking very well, with cuts and bruises all over his face, caused by the debris that had battered him while he'd been tossed around in the cyclone. "Wolfe?"

"Here!" Wolfe appeared out of the bushes, levitating a large vampire behind him. "I spared the Alpha. He could know something."

"Good work, Wolfe."

Wolfe nodded. "You okay, kid?"

"Give me a minute."

"Take the Body Bind off that vampire," Khan ordered

Wolfe waved his wand, causing the vampire to briefly go limp. Then it began struggling in thin air, before realising the futility and stopping. "What do you want?" it asked.

"What do _you_ want?" Khan replied. "We are willing to offer you safe haven and a supply of plasma, if you tell us everything you know. You will be collared and registered at your local Ministry, of course."

Harry knew that only five percent of all vampires managed to control their bloodlust enough to be valuable parts of the magical society. Unfortunately, the rest couldn't suppress their desire to hunt and wouldn't make due with pig's blood, so they had to be destroyed. This one was obviously one of the latter, which was why a collar was a necessity.

"I know nothing!"

Khan glanced at Wolfe, who was concentrating on the vampire, and proceeded to ask, "Why the ambush?"

"I know nothing," the vampire repeated.

Again Khan looked at Wolfe, who replied with a brief nod.

Khan pointed his wand at the vampire's heart and muttered a spell, shooting a stake through it and ending the vampire's existence. Then he looked at Wolfe. "Well?"

"We're on the right track. They've been delaying us to get Yamato out of here. They barely managed."

"Shouldn't we have kept him alive for further interrogation?" Harry frowned.

Wolfe shrugged. "This one didn't know anything we already didn't. And it wouldn't have co-operated anyway."

"So can we go back to Concordia now?" Harry asked eagerly, prompting a knowing smirk from Khan.

"Yes, others will be taking over for a while."

Harry grinned. He'd finally get to see Ginny again. The prospect made him shiver in anticipation, but he also felt a slight unease settle over him. What if Ginny had changed her mind about him? What if she'd met another man in his absence? He shook his head and scolded himself for those thoughts. Ginny loved him. She wouldn't do that, would she? These thoughts were silly, he'd only been away for three weeks!

He pondered this as they made their way back to the Cruiser. He couldn't talk to Ron about it because he was Ginny's brother and he didn't have an objective view on this. Harry glanced at Wolfe. Wolfe had had problems very similar to his own. Maybe he was the one to talk to. On the other hand, Wolfe didn't seem like the confidant type. "Uh, Wolfe? Do you have a minute?"

"What is it?"

"Well, it's about Ginny."

Wolfe's face darkened. "I'm sorry about putting her in danger. I know it isn't easy for you to be working with me," he said, not meeting Harry's gaze. "Frankly, I've been wondering when you'd bring that up."

Harry was momentarily confused before he realised what Wolfe meant. He'd never really confronted Wolfe about that, but he'd more or less forgiven him. And they'd been amicable enough over the past three weeks. Harry hadn't known that it still bothered Wolfe. "Oh, I wasn't talking about that. I just need some advice. You know, I haven't seen her in a while. What should I do?" 

"Gee, kid. I think you ought to ask Caleb about this, or Valentina." 

Harry frowned. He didn't know the older Rangers very well, and he wouldn't feel at ease asking them his question. "I don't think so."

"But why me?"

"Well, you and Galatea are a lot like Ginny and me in some ways."

Wolfe smiled. "So I've been told. Okay… shoot."

"It's simple really. Ginny's been sort of tense around me. I guess it's a bit my fault too. I just want to be absolutely sure of my feelings before I start anything with her."

Wolfe digested the information before he laughed out loud.

"What's so funny?" Harry frowned.

"What I'm about to say." Wolfe chuckled, stepping onto a circle that had come down out of the belly of the Cruiser. They stepped on and it carried them up into the cargo compartment. "It seems to me that you're just afraid of messing things up with Ginny. You glow and float when you kiss her, for crying out loud! How can you _not_ be sure about your feelings for her? Follow your heart in this!" Wolfe chuckled again and shook his head. "I sound like Galatea and Hermione!"

"I don't float _every_ time…" Harry muttered, blushing. 

Valentina Malkova, a Fourth Class Intel field operative cleared her throat. "Potter, Wolfe!"

"Yes, Valentina?" Wolfe asked.

"I'm afraid I have some bad news for you. You won't be going home any time soon."

Harry sat on top of a crate. "What?"

"Ranger Carey has found evidence of Tetsuo Yamato's activities in Japan. That conflicts with the information you've gathered here."

Wolfe shook his head. "The vampire…"

"Maybe the vampire believed what it was thinking. However, Anastasiou knows about your gift, and he probably knew that you'd be here, hence the ambush. Does it not fit in his character to plant false leads?"

Wolfe snarled and punched the hull of the Cruiser. "Why us?"

"Ranger Carey had been investigating something really important over there. Wolfe, I assume you've heard of Hitomi Ito?"

"Yeah, she's a Mind Reader too!"

"She disappeared two weeks ago, and there is some evidence that suggests that Yamato has something to do with it."

"Is Yamato doing this on his own, or is he working for Anastasiou?" Harry asked.

"Good question. We don't know. Anastasiou had to loosen his grip on some of his associates in the wake of our operation. He's licking his wounds, so to speak."

"All right, but why do we need to go to Japan?"

"Because Carey has been attacked by skilled assassins. He was seriously injured and barely got away. Luckily, he was wearing a Portkey that brought him straight to the Medical Wing in the Citadel."

"But is Gavin going to be okay?" Wolfe asked, surprising both Harry and Malkova with his show of concern.

"He is already up and about. You will rendezvous with him in Hokkaido. The _Boreas_ will be your base of operations."

"Not that I'm complaining," Harry began. After all, that particular Cruiser had a luxury interior. "But why the _Boreas_? Isn't it reserved for the transport of dignitaries?"

"The _Zephyrus_ is undergoing a major overhaul, and all the other Cruisers are booked. Besides, you might be working in Japan for a while," Malkova explained.

Harry groaned with frustration. Now he'd be apart from Ginny even longer. For the first time, he felt a few pangs of regret at having become a Ranger. "How long is a while?"

"Several months!"

Harry shook his head. Arguing wouldn't be of any use. "Who else will we be working with, besides Gavin?"

"Ranger Gravenstein will be doing backup monitoring duty from the Cruiser, but her main task is to be our diplomat to the ruling council of the Japanese wizarding society. Ranger Rosaria will be looking after your health, and Ranger Docmor will be the lead Intelligence Ranger. He will also function as caretaker of the ship until one of our artificers becomes available."

Harry knew that Doc was a backup Artificer Ranger and knew a great deal about magical devices and how to fix them. But he wondered why there wasn't a real Artificer Ranger available.

"Why are all the artificers tied up?" Wolfe asked, voicing Harry's question.

"Next to the overhaul of the _Zephyrus_, they are also working on a second project. But I haven't been told what it is." Malkova shrugged. "Any other questions?"

Harry and Wolfe shook their heads, and Malkova went back up to the bridge, leaving Harry and Wolfe with the stunned and restrained captive whom Khan had placed in a special cell.

"Why the both of us?" Harry asked, reclining in some netting that served as a hammock. It swayed slightly as the Cruiser lurched into motion. "That's overkill."

"Is it?" Wolfe asked with an enigmatic smirk of his face. "There is a reason why you're going. _Think_!"

Harry frowned. Why would they both be going? He couldn't think of a reason. Okay, so the mission was important and a Mind Reader had disappeared. That alone was a worrisome development. A Mind Reader… Wolfe was one! He could be a target as well.

"Very good." Wolfe nodded, handing Harry a biscuit from a box. "A treat." 

Harry scowled but took the biscuit anyway because he was starving. "Why didn't you just tell me?"

"You wouldn't have learned anything that way."

"Yeah, but it's not fair. You read Malkova's mind."

"No, I didn't!" Wolfe frowned. "I don't read people's minds all the time. I just read yours to follow your train of thought to your conclusion."

Harry took a bite out of the biscuit. It tasted like the chocolate biscuits Mrs Weasley used to make. He closed his eyes, remembering how Ginny had fed him one of those biscuits in the summer between his fifth and sixth year at Hogwarts. 

The Weasleys, his family. A sudden thought struck him and his eyes flew open. "Wolfe, what about your sister and Charlie? They'll be prime targets."

"Commander Ironheart will do anything to protect them. I'm sure he'll take the necessary steps." 

Harry relaxed and closed his eyes again, Wolfe was probably right about that. They were safe in Concordia. "Hey, Wolfe?"

"Hmmm?" Wolfe too was lying in the netting, his eyes closed. 

"How are you coping with being apart from Galatea?"

"I'm not. I'm going crazy."

Harry sighed. At least he wasn't alone in his misery.

*

They remained on site for another six hours, allowing Wortelgraaf and Doc to gather evidence under the watchful eyes Khan and Mordecai, while Harry and Wolfe were kept in reserve. Then, the Cruiser took them to the second largest island of the Japanese archipelago, where they would meet up with Gavin.

The Cruiser landed on a small plateau in the mountainous region, and Doc, Wolfe and Harry got out. The winters in Hokkaido were long and severe and even though it was early September, a chilly wind lashed across Harry's face.

Doc took out a flat device of about five by seven inches. It was the tracer that would lead them to the other Cruiser, which was hidden somewhere in the forested valley below. "Come on, boys!" They descended into the woods.

"How much do you know about the Japanese wizarding society?" Wolfe asked Harry, as they made their way through the trees.

Harry shrugged. He didn't know all that much. "Is there anything I should know?"

"I'd say so. Being the Boy-Who-Lived and a Ranger will only give you a bit of an advantage here. Their government is different from the British Ministry. There are five major wizarding clans that are considered nobility, and they are basically the ruling class."

"I thought nobility has been abolished in Japan, as a ruling class with power," Harry said. 

"Only among the Muggles," Wolfe said. "Purebloods still call the shots here. Everyone in the ruling council is a pureblood."

"That's stupid."

"That's the way things work. Most senior positions in the government are held by purebloods. It's much like the Muggle Samurai era, actually."

"I don't know anything about the Muggle Samurai era," Harry replied.

"Maybe I should have Heidi explain to you how things work." 

"So _that's_ why she came along!"

"Yes."

"We're being followed," Doc interrupted.

Wolfe glanced around. "That can't be. I would have noticed." He looked at Doc "How do you know?"

"These big ears aren't just for decoration." The half-goblin said.

A giggly female voice suddenly addressed them seemingly coming from nowhere. Harry didn't understand Japanese, but apparently Wolfe understood. 

A small smile appeared on his face. "Under an Invisibility Cloak, Yuriko-san?"

A disembodied head came into view some twenty feet to her right. It was grinning from ear to ear, and soon the rest of the cloak slid off to reveal a Japanese woman in black clothing. "You are not as sharp as you used to be, Wolfe-san."

"What are you doing here?" Wolfe asked. "Don't tell me Makioka-sama is so paranoid he has you looking for Rangers now."

"You _have_ lost your sharpness!" The woman frowned. The playful light had disappeared from her almond shaped eyes. "My father is no longer in charge of the Emperor's spy net. Someone else is. I am here on my own business."

"And how did you find us?" Doc frowned, his hand was resting on his wand.

"That would be my fault," Wolfe said. "Master Lei had a special relationship with her father, grandfather and great-grandfather. Commander Ironheart is aware of that relationship. She knows this is a Ranger drop zone."

"Our location has been compromised?" Doc asked worriedly.

"No. I trust her!" Wolfe said, looking straight into the woman's eyes. Harry knew Wolfe had read her mind to be absolutely sure. "Something is brewing in the Japanese wizarding government."

Yuriko nodded. "I need your help."

"Is there any place we can talk?"

"What about your headquarters?" she asked.

"I can't take you there." Wolfe frowned. 

The playful light in her eyes returned. "I had to try." She pulled a pin out of her hair. "This will take us to a secret home my family has kept for decades. No one knows about it. It is secure."

"We need to notify our contacts about our delay … Doc!"

"On it," the half-goblin replied. He went about setting up a connection to the _Boreas_.

"Wolfe-san, your companions will be welcome in my dwelling. However, I would be a terrible hostess if I did not inquire about their identity."

"Sorry about that." Wolfe nodded in Harry's direction. "Ranger Fifth Class, Harry Potter!"

The woman looked taken aback for a moment, before bowing deeply. "Potter-sama, an honour to meet you. I am Makioka Yuriko, of the Ninetails Clan."

Harry blushed. "Um, likewise." He wasn't sure how to address the woman. "Wolfe's trust and esteem is hard to earn. You seem to have both, and I am always honoured to meet such a person."

The woman blushed deeply, causing Harry to look at Wolfe for an explanation.

"Harry's unfamiliar with the usage of titles," Wolfe said.

"Ah," she smiled. "It would be most proper to address me by my family name, since I am not a close friend or relative. The proper title to address me with would therefore be Makioka-san."

Harry nodded, although he still had a few questions. Why did the woman add 'sama' instead of 'san' at the end of his name? "I understand, Makioka-san. But why did you call me 'sama,' instead of 'san'?"

"Because of who you are. She considers your social rank above her own. You are possibly the greatest wizard in the world, so that isn't really surprising. I'll explain it to you later, or perhaps, Yuriko?"

"It would be my delight," Yuriko answered. "I am aware of the difficulties foreign wizards often experience when dealing with our society." She looked at Doc, who had finished the transmission to the Cruiser. "And what of your other companion?"

"That's Docmor the Diligent," Wolfe said.

Yuriko looked even more surprised than she did when she was introduced to Harry. "That is a goblin name."

"My father is a goblin," Doc said evenly. "My mother is a witch. I am the first half-goblin in known history."

Yuriko blinked. Then she remembered to bow.

"Charmed," Doc replied.

Yuriko held out the hairpin. "Hold this pin, please."

Doc, Wolfe and Harry all touched it. Yuriko muttered a few words, and again Harry experienced the nauseating feeling caused by Portkey travel. He soon found himself in what he recognised as a Japanese house, like the ones he'd seen on television, whenever the Dursleys had allowed him to watch television. He saw cushions around a low table on a wooden floor, and all the interior walls were made of paper. Harry knew that many Japanese Muggles lived in modern houses, though there were still a few who lived in houses like this one.

"Remove your shoes and be seated. Please, excuse me for a moment. I will be right back!" Yuriko said, and skipped into another room.

Wolfe took off his boots, and Harry and Doc followed his lead. Then Wolfe gestured Harry and Doc to be seated.

Harry wanted to sit at a certain spot, but Wolfe shook his head. "The hostess sits there. Take any other spot."

So Harry did. From where he was sitting, he had an excellent view of what was happened in the adjacent room. Yuriko had lighted several lamps, and her shadow was being cast against the rice-paper walls. The shadow left very little to the imagination. Harry's mouth fell open as he regarded the womanly curves that had been obscured by her previous outfit. She pulled an additional pin out of her hair and it all fell loose, nearly reaching the floor. Mayumi also had hair that long. 

A hand whacked him across the back of the head, snapping him out of it.

Harry glared at Wolfe, but Wolfe shook his head. "Don't stare," he whispered. "Once the door is closed, you pretend not to see or hear the events transpiring behind it. You simply ignore it."

Harry fixed his eyes on the table instead. He was beginning to see what Wolfe had meant about having to learn all the customs. "Sorry!"

"It's okay. Master Lei slapped me across the head lots of times." 

"You know, that explains quite a bit." Harry grinned.

Doc sniggered.

A few minutes later, Yuriko appeared in a kimono of shimmering red and orange silk. It had some interesting patterns on it, some of which were moving. It was a wizard's kimono!

Harry was pleasantly surprised by her appearance. In her black clothing, she had looked bland and unremarkable, like the most average of average of women. Now she looked quite pleasing to the eye. He guessed it had to be a trick of her trade, having many faces…

Yuriko bowed and twirled around. She explained about her outer kimono, the uchikake. It bore the Clan colours, and moving patterns that were representations of the Ninetails Clan symbols, which were a bit -but not quite- like the family shield in western heraldry.

Then she guided them through a short and informal tea ceremony, and discussed the workings of the Japanese wizarding society. Among the things she explained was that sincerity was valued, but that it was not the same as honesty. Most Japanese wizards were more concerned about what people wanted to hear than telling the truth. Telling the absolute truth might bring embarrassment to all parties involved, and was therefore dishonourable.

Apparently, among the Japanese wizarding nobility, it was all about appearance. Fudge would have fit right in! 

"I'm sorry to have to bring this up," Wolfe said. "But one of our own was attacked by assassins not so long ago. Do you know anything about this?"

Yuriko took a sip from her tea. "You believe Yamato is behind it?" Harry noticed the complete absence of a title. He assumed it meant that Yamato was a very hated individual.

"Isn't he?" Wolfe frowned.

"The way I understood it, the Ranger was attacked because he endangered the interests of the Imperial family," Yuriko said simply.

Harry was surprised to see Wolfe's mask of composure break. "I don't mean to offend you, but are you sure?"

"I understand the implications and your concern, so I do not take any offence."

"Wolfe, what does this mean? Have we come to Japan for nothing?" Harry asked worriedly. He'd seldom seen Wolfe react this way.

"I apologise for our leaving," Wolfe said, quickly getting up. "But we have to go, now!"

Doc and Harry followed Wolfe's lead again.

"May we have a Portkey that will take us back to the departure point?"

Yuriko nodded and went to get such a Portkey while the Rangers pulled on their boots and donned their cloaks. She returned with the hairpin and told Wolfe the word that would trigger the return trip. Soon, the Rangers were in the forest once more.

"We should be on the Cruiser's scopes right now. Someone will Portkey here to take us to the Cruiser," Doc said.

"Wolfe?" Harry asked. "Why would Gavin's investigation endanger the Imperial family's interests?"

"I don't know. But if the Emperor is dabbling in issues he doesn't want the Order to know about, we're in trouble." 

"Did Yuriko know which Imperial interests?"

"She didn't know. She deduced it from a number of factors, and that's why she couldn't be more specific. It may have something to do with Yamato, and it may not. However, if it does, we're facing off against the leading wizarding family in Japan."

Harry understood. If they were up against a legitimate power, things could get really ugly.

*

Ginny yawned and stretched out on her bed. Her legs bumped a grumpy-looking Crookshanks, who yowled discontentedly.

"Well, why aren't you sleeping on Heidi's bed, with your girlfriend?" Ginny scolded him, but smiling at thought of the fit Heidi would throw if she saw Crookshanks' ginger hairs all over her silk sheets.

Crookshanks had officially moved with Hermione, but he still often travelled up to the sixth tier of the city to be with Heidi's cat. Even though she'd been sterilised after bearing an unexpected litter fathered by Crookshanks, he was still very fond of her. Ginny hadn't known that cats could get emotionally attached to each other. Maybe it was different with wizarding cats.

Ginny rolled herself to the edge of her bed and swung her legs off the edge, sticking her feet in a pair of fluffy pink slippers. She hated the colour and the fluffiness, but they _were_ nice and warm. She threw on her canary yellow dressing gown, which clashed horribly with her slippers and shuffled out of her room, formerly Hermione's. The door to Galatea's room was open, and she heard strange noises coming out of it. She poked her head inside and identified the sounds as someone violently throwing up. "Galatea…are you okay?"

"Non!" Galatea moaned. 

Ginny knew something was terribly wrong. The common language at the school Galatea had attended had been English, and her English was much better than Fleur's. But the fact that she'd responded in her own language meant that something was very wrong indeed. Ginny hurried into Galatea room and through a side-door into the bathroom.

Galatea was on her knees, in front of the toilet, shivering. Her eyes were puffy and her normally pale face, even paler right now, looked tearstained. She wiped her sweaty face with the sleeve of her dressing gown.

"Good Lord, Tea, what's wrong?" She helped Galatea up and led her to her bed. "Binks!" she yelled.

Seconds later a house-elf zapped into her room. "Yes, Mistress Ginny?"

"Don't call me that…and please get me a bucket."

The house-elf disappeared for an instance and reappeared, clutching a bucket.

"Thank you." Ginny took the bucket and handed it to Galatea. 

Binks stood by, wringing his hands nervously and casting concerned glances at Galatea. Ginny gave him a small nod, signalling that he was excused. He bowed and retreated from the room, unobtrusive, like house-elves were supposed to be. 

All of the sudden, Galatea burst out into tears. "He'll hate me… He'll think I want to trap him… He won't want anything to do with me again…"

Ginny sat down next to Galatea and put her arm over her shoulder. "Calm down, what are you babbling about?"

Galatea took a couple of deep breaths and slowly calmed down. "I-I'm pregnant!"

"And it wasn't the plan." Ginny understood. "How did it happen?"

"I used the Birth-control Charm." Galatea began.

"That isn't nearly as reliable as the potion," Ginny said. She knew for a fact that the Weasley legions had completely ignored the charm. Ginny knew that Ron was a bit bothered that he and she were living proof of that, even though her mum had always reassured them that she'd never regretted having them. It had never bothered Ginny that much, because her life had turned out pretty well after all. 

"I know it is not as reliable as potion, but my aunt had trouble conceiving. Many part-Veela have this problem, even though my mother did not. But I avoided using the potion for this reason."

Ginny understood. The Birth-Control Potion was so heavy-duty that one out of fifty witches using it became permanently sterile. If difficult conception was indeed a problem that some part-Veela had, it had been a good idea of Galatea's not to use the Potion. In fact, many witches only used it after they'd decided not to have any more children. "But what happened? Did you forget to reinforce the charm?"

"After my fight with Max, over what he did to you, I stopped performing the charm. But I forgot to reapply it when we got back together again. But he'll think I'm trying to trap him with a baby!" Galatea wailed.

"Keep it down, some people are trying to sleep," Gudrun grumbled as she entered Galatea's room, rubbing her eyes. Her annoyed expression changed when she saw Galatea's tearful face. "Problem?"

"I'm pregnant."

"Ouch … Unplanned, I presume?"

Galatea nodded.

"How far along?"

"I think I conceived three weeks ago."

"So five weeks counting from your last menstrual period. Why didn't you tell us!" Ginny asked.

"I don't want to burden you with my problem," Galatea replied. "I'll deal with it by myself." 

"No you won't!" Ginny burst out. "Are you crazy? You're taking care of Heidi's cat in while she's gone, aren't you?"

"Yes!"

"Not anymore, you're not. You can't clean out the litter box anymore. Don't you know that feline faeces have a parasite that could make its way into your womb and seriously threaten your pregnancy? No, I'll be doing that."

"But Annabelle only trusts _me_." Galatea pointed out.

"I don't think she cares who cleans out her litter box. Now it's been three weeks, right? So it's about time for your first check-up. Have you found a caregiver yet?"

"I have a better question. Will Wolfe want to keep the baby?" Gudrun said, causing Galatea to start crying again and earning her a glare from Ginny. Gudrun grimaced as she realised her mistake. "I'm sorry. Of course he'll want the baby. Besides, I think abortion is illegal in Concordia, unless the pregnancy endangers the life of the mother."

"That won't be a problem!" Galatea said with determination. "I'm keeping this baby no matter what, and if he doesn't want it, I'll-I'll…" Her lips started quivering again. "What am I going to do?"

Gudrun beckoned Ginny to follow her out of the room, and Ginny gave Galatea's shoulder a little squeeze before following Gudrun out.

"What?" Ginny whispered, after they'd taken enough distance from Galatea's room.

"We have to figure out what to do with Galatea. She'll drive us nuts with her mood swings. I hear it's much worse with part-Veela."

"Come on, she's our friend…" Ginny paused. There was something odd about the look on Gudrun's face. "What's your problem? Don't you consider her your friend?"

Gudrun was suddenly very interested in her slippers. "Aw, she's nice enough… Too damn nice, too damn perfect and sometimes I hate her guts for that, and I had my sights set on Wolfe before she came along and claimed all his attention, and being an empath she knows it!" Gudrun hissed. Then her face brightened. "Wow, I needed to say that. Sure, I'll help out."

Ginny blinked. "You're jealous of Galatea?" They could hear Galatea making coughing noises as she hurled into the bucket.

"Not right now!" Gudrun grinned.

"Oh, you're no help at all. I guess I'll ask Hermione. She'll know what to do."

*

Hermione removed the goggles from her head. "I've magnified the image of the embryo. Do you want to see it?" she asked Galatea.

Galatea smiled and took the goggles, placing it over her own head. She started at the image for a while and her lips began to tremble again.

Gudrun rolled back her eyes and shook her head. Ginny just gave Hermione a goofy smile and removed the goggles from Galatea's face. Tears dripped out of the goggles, and Ginny wiped them clean with a tissue. 

"How am I going to tell Max?" Galatea sniffed.

While Hermione pondered this, Gudrun spoke. "Simple. You just tell him, 'Max, I'm having a baby and you'd better be happy about it, or I'll have Ginny Weasley make sure that you never reproduce again!' "

To Hermione's surprise, Galatea chuckled at this. Talk about mood-swings. "Seriously, though. We need to find a way to break the news to him carefully."

Gudrun checked her chrono and looked at Ginny. "Come on, my young apprentice. We're running late!"

Ginny looked at her own magical chrono. "Hermione, we have to go. I'll be done at eight tonight. Shall we talk then?"

"No, I'll be helping out in Command and Control. Double duty, but I'll be done at ten. Can you come down to the house then?"

Ginny nodded and then followed Gudrun to the maintenance bay.

"Okay, Galatea. What would be the best way to tell Max this?"

"Tell Max about what?" Commander Ironheart asked as he walked into the room. "If it's none of my business I won't pry…Oh dear!"

Hermione couldn't help but scowl at the Commander. "Honestly, Mind Readers!"

"I couldn't help it. She's practically broadcasting," Ironheart said defensively. "As for telling Max, that may have to wait."

"But he deserves to know!" Hermione argued. 

"I agree, but he needs to concentrate on his work right now. Something is up in Japan, and I'd appreciate it if you could save Max the additional distraction for another month."

"Another month? Will he be away that long?" Galatea's eyes began to tear up again. Hermione was awed by the extreme mood swings. But she'd read that part-Veela women had more intense mood swings than ordinary witches.

"I'm afraid he may be away for up to three months," Ironheart said.

"Three months?" Galatea shrieked. "Noooo!" she wailed, reminding Hermione of Moaning Myrtle.

Ironheart sighed. "I can't _forbid_ you to tell him. I just said I'd appreciate it if you didn't." He took Galatea's hand. "Congratulations. I'm sure Max will be thrilled once the shock wears off."

"You think so?"

"I know so. He's even talked to me about having children with you."

"He did?" Galatea smiled and began to sob again. But this time it was because of relief, Hermione was sure.

Hermione went to get Galatea some water while leaving Ironheart to reassure Galatea. She returned with a glass and handed it to Galatea. "Drink this, and be sure to drink a lot of water from now on. Otherwise all the vomiting will leave you dehydrated."

"I'll let Vassily know not to expect you at Combat Training for a while, you can't do that in your condition. And I'll tell Irina to put together a new duty roster for the Medical Rangers. You can no longer go on missions."

"Thank you!" Galatea said gratefully.

"Now, Ranger Hermione, I believe it is time for my physical?" Ironheart said.

"Yes, it is!" Hermione said. "Will you be okay?" she asked Galatea. "Can you make it home?"

"I'm pregnant, not lame!" Galatea answered.

"All right. I'll check up on you when I'm done with my shift." 

***

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A/N: Thus ends this chapter. I'll try and make future chapters more interesting. Please remember that my ego likes lovely **reviews**, oh noble readers, which inspire me and consequently speed up my writing. (I am not blackmailing for reviews, Condor5, just stating a fact :-)

Oh, and if you thought Existence after Life was intense… 


	2. Courtly Intrigue

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Disclaimer: See Chapter 1

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Author's Note: Thanks you for all the reviews. It prompted me to post this chapter today. Don't expect the next one in less than seven days, though, since this chapter was already finished before I even posted chapter 1. I'll post chapter three as soon as possible. 

I forgot to give someone credit in the previous chapter. Ruskbyte helped me a bit with chapter 1, and this chapter too, for that matter. Therefore I honour that talented writer. Hopefully I'll be half as good a writer someday. 

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Courtly Intrigue

Chapter 2

Harry was nervous. He wasn't an Intelligence Ranger, and he was scared to death of botching this delicate operation. But this was the only way, apparently. He tugged at the obi that kept was wrapped around his silk kimono. He looked down at the strange slipper socks he was wearing, footwear that separated the big toe from the other toes and had canvas soles to reduce wear. Their sandals had to be left at the entrance of the palace. 

He smiled as he remembered. The dressing up had been a disaster, with Heidi and Wolfe bickering over the silliest things. Wolfe had refused to wear the _fundoshi_, a cotton loincloth that was wrapped around the stomach and up between the legs, while Heidi insisted that it was proper to do so. Wolfe had argued that he wasn't planning to strip down to his underwear anyway, and Harry had followed his lead.

Harry didn't object to the rest of the clothing, though. The nagajuban, an under-kimono of lightweight silk, dyed silver to compliment the colour of the next layer. It felt good against his skin. Heidi had made him undress again after she'd discovered that he'd wrapped his kimono right over left. Apparently only corpses that were to be buried were wrapped that way.

The outer kimono, called kosode, was black, with silver trimming around the sleeves and hem. The Ranger crest appeared on the back of the kimono at center, and on the back of both sleeves at the upper arm, as well as each front over the chest.

Wolfe and Heidi had also clashed over whether a hakama or nagabakama should be worn. From afar these would look like wide trousers, but up close one could see they were more like long, divided, skirts. The nagabakama was essentially the court version of the hakama, and naturally Heidi had wanted them to wear these. Harry was glad that Wolfe had put his foot down on that issue though. Nagabakama were too long, and had to be held up when one walked with them on. Harry was sure that he'd have been tripping all over himself with those on. So, much to Heidi's chagrin, who by that time had been complaining that she might as well have stayed in Nomad Island, they wore hakama.

Heidi had also wanted them to wear a _hoeki no hô, _a long silk over robe, but Wolfe had refused, saying that he was a warrior, not a court noble. For the sake of uniformity, Harry had gone along with him, although he wasn't so sure about it now. After all, Heidi must have known what she was talking about.

He glanced at Wolfe, whose face didn't reveal any anxiety, not that it ever did. His companion looked every inch the samurai, with daisho tucked into his obi.

Harry too had wanted to carry the two swords, the katana and the wakizashi, which were referred to collectively as daisho. But Wolfe had explained that a person who carried a katana was expected to be able to use it, and Harry couldn't. 

Moreover, the swords Wolfe was wearing had been a gift from the Phoenix Clan elders to Master Lei. Apparently they had an enchantment of some sort cast upon them, and the main reason he was wearing the swords was to gain the Phoenix Clan's favour. The Rangers would need all the allies they could get. 

Wolfe had contacted Captain Kovalenko and Commander Ironheart as soon as they'd returned to the Cruiser. The commanding officers had expressed their concern. A change of tactics had also been in order. It was now up to Harry and Wolfe to attend a gathering at the Imperial Court. 

The occasion for this gathering was a moon viewing banquet, and the high-ranking wizards used it to rub shoulders. One of these wizards could know what was going on, so Harry and Wolfe had to try to find out exactly what was going on, even though neither was an Intelligence Ranger. Fortunately, Wolfe had had some instruction under Master Lei. But the slight frown on Wolfe's face told Harry that he'd rather have someone else find out who'd attacked Gavin and point him in the right direction so he could deal with the culprit.

Harry shifted around in his seat. They'd been kept waiting for an hour. Wolfe had anticipated this, as well as the requirement of their having to leave their wands in a special place, where all the people attending Court, the wizarding Emperor included, would leave their wands. This minimised the possibility of sabotage, since the Imperial Guard wouldn't allow anyone to sabotage the Emperor's wand somehow. However, Wolfe planned to have Doc sweep their wands for tracing spells and booby traps before they'd return to the Cruiser.

Another very puzzling thing was the fact that Wolfe was allowed to carry his weapons, but not his wand. What was up with that? Didn't that make Wolfe and the other people who wore the daisho a threat to the Emperor? Harry shook his head. No use in trying to work out all these customs.

Harry would have felt better if Doc had accompanied them, but that was apparently impossible. According to Wolfe, Yuriko was a great deal more open-minded than most Japanese wizards were. Her reaction to Doc had been favourable, but Wolfe expected that the wizards would react to Doc as if he were a major abomination, being half-goblin. 

Heidi had opted to stay away too, since her name didn't really carry any weight in these circles, and she feared that she wouldn't be able to defend herself if someone decided to make her a target. After all, they still didn't know why Gavin had been attacked. It could be open season on Rangers, for all they knew. Wolfe had concurred.

Gavin also couldn't accompany them for obvious reasons. If the Emperor wanted him dead, his mere presence would have been a slap in the Imperial face. Strangely enough, Gavin had wanted to come, arguing that his absence might tip the Emperor off to their knowledge of his involvement in the assassination attempt. But he'd grudgingly agreed to stay behind after Wolfe had assured him that Yuriko Makioka had indeed sought him out for her personal reasons, and that there was no reason to assume that the Emperor was aware of their knowledge.

An old and bald courtier slipped into the room and dismissed the two Imperial Guards. Having been drilled by Heidi how to recognise the various Clan colours and mon, Harry recognised the man to be of the Unicorn Clan, the clan closest to the Imperial family, since the Emperor's bride had always been from that clan since the beginning of the dynasty. This interbreeding had had a few interesting effects on the Imperial family. They were all very short, and had grey eyes. They also had a lot of magical talent.

Harry cleared away Heidi's teachings from his mind momentarily and glanced around as they were being led to the throne upon which the Emperor sat. The Emperor wore heavy robes of resplendent silver and gold, more magnificent than all the other kimono in the hall, save maybe his wife's. She sat on a large pillow on beside him, on the same dais that held the throne.

About forty or so courtiers occupied the hall. Most had the colours of one of the five Great Clans, but Harry managed to spot a cluster of wizards who clearly belonged to the Minor Clans. He felt underdressed as he noticed that all the men wore the long nagabakama. Maybe he should have listened to Heidi after all. He spotted Yuriko, but didn't acknowledge her presence. After all, their meeting had never taken place. 

Harry remained half a pace behind Wolfe, to make sure that the Emperor knew whom to address. He didn't feel like talking, afraid that he'd unwittingly start a riot.

Their guide, the Unicorn, bowed and spoke to the Emperor, while the monarch regarded Wolfe and Harry with benevolent curiosity. He didn't look like a bloke who'd order a hit on a Ranger. But from life experience, Harry knew that appearances were extremely deceiving. Heidi had warned him that this was even more so the case in Japan.

The Emperor then asked a question, and Wolfe replied to the question before the Unicorn could translate, drawing whispers from the crowd in the hall. Then he followed Wolfe's example and bowed, only straightening again after Wolfe did so too.

"I bid you welcome!" the Emperor said graciously, and in English, surprising many of the courtiers. "It is an honour to have such distinguished guests. Please, make full use of the palace's facilities and conveniences."

"We are honoured to be here," Wolfe said, and bowed again, before turning away. He beckoned Harry to follow him. As planned, they would go to Yuriko for the formal introduction. Since Wolfe knew Yuriko from childhood, their interaction wouldn't raise suspicion.

"You never cease to amaze me, Wolfe-sama," Yuriko said, confusing Harry with the usage of titles once again. Hadn't Wolfe been a _san_? "You have mastered the high language of the court. The Emperor was pleased and impressed."

"I've hardly mastered it," Wolfe replied. "But I'm proficient enough."

Yuriko raised her hand, drawing the attention of an older man, who hurried over as fast as dignity allowed. He bowed to Harry. "Potter-sama, a great honour!"

Harry studied his robes, mostly silver with a touch of shimmering black. The man was of the Mooncalf Clan, one of the Minor Clans.

"This is Shobo-sama, my mentor."

"Your efforts have produced a fine witch," Harry said, returning the bow. He was getting tired of sucking up to people, but the veil of courtesy was a necessity. 

The wizard, however, seemed delighted. "Is that so? Do you know her?"

Harry caught his breath as he realised his mistake. "I have just been introduced to her, but the fact that she has Wolfe's regard hints at her qualities." 

"I see!" the wizard said happily. He really was a jolly sort of fellow. "Would you like to meet some of the courtiers? They are anxious to meet the conqueror of Hannibal Skaras and The Dark Lord."

Harry nodded. It was time to start feeling around for clues. He glanced at Wolfe. "If I may?"

"By all means! Makioka-san and I need to catch up."

So Harry followed Shobo to a cluster of witches. They all hid their faces behind their fans as he approached them.

Shobo spoke to them and stern tones, causing them to fold up their fans. Their faces were painted white, but he suspected that they were all blushing. One of them spoke up. "We were wondering about the reason for your visit, Potter-sama."

"I wish the only reason for my visit was to be in the company of Japan's finest witches." The women barely stifled their giggles. Wolfe had told him that flirting with, and flattering the wives of important wizards was accepted, as long as it remained at polite conversation. "But I'm afraid that we are here on pressing business, which I regret to say I cannot discuss."

"We understand," the witch who'd spoken to him said. Harry guessed that she was their spokeswoman. "We will not try to pry these secrets from you, then. But tell us, are you courting anyone?"

Harry felt his face flush. "Well-no, I g-guess," he stammered, instantly feeling guilty. But he had no idea who these women were, and he had no intention of discussing his feelings for Ginny with them. The fewer people who knew about him and Ginny, the better. Even though the Weasleys had fully accepted the fact that they could be harmed because of their relationship to Harry, he didn't feel like adding to their danger.

"Then perhaps you would like to meet with my daughter? She…"

Shobo interrupted the woman and took Harry by the elbow, urging him to follow. "I apologise for that. Despite all my years as an Intelligence gatherer for the Emperor … I should have anticipated her motives. She has this rather dumb and unattractive daughter she needs to marry off."

Harry frowned. The way Heidi had explained things, Harry would have thought that marrying non-Japanese wizards was reason to be cast out of the community. "I've been told that marrying gaijin is not allowed."

"Exceptions are made for exceptional wizards, Potter-sama," Shobo explained. "No wizard in this court would object to your marrying his daughter, save perhaps the Emperor." He sighed. "I am afraid that marriage has little to do with love in our society. It is strictly a business matter, arranged by the parents of the couple and a middleman. One is not necessarily expected to love one's spouse. Mutual respect is required, however. Love is considered a charming bonus in marriage. And tradition is also very important, oh yes."

Harry nodded and glanced at the Emperor, who was listening to the bickering of two courtiers with half an ear. "How is the Emperor's safety ensured? I mean, there are Guards at every entrance to this hall, but could they get to the Emperor in time in case of danger? What if there's a visitor with enough skill to harm him without a wand?" he asked. He knew that he or Wolfe could probably kill the Emperor if they wanted to.

Shobo nodded at one of the court ladies. "Sayuki Matsu-hime. The eldest daughter of the Imperial heir, sworn to protect our Emperor, and her father."

Her face was not painted, Harry noted, and a pretty, heart-shaped face it was. It reminded him of someone. "But how will she protect him?"

"Her hairpins are hollow and contain a nerve-toxin, and that ornamental comb can double as a weapon. She also has a few surprises up her sleeves." 

Harry resisted the urge to whistle. "Interesting."

"I too have some skills I could use to defend the Emperor," Shobo announced. "I know I don't look like it, but it is true. And apart from the guards and the princess, two of the entertainers"-Shobo nodded at two female musicians-"are also guards. Their flutes are flute-guns that can shoot darts. The flutes, like all weapons, are also charmed not to harm the Emperor, in case someone gets the idea of controlling the guards."

"I see…Deception is an advantage."

"Indeed."

"On another note," Harry began. "Why is Wolfe allowed to carry weapons near the Emperor?"

"Ah, a clever question! Those particular swords used to belong to a Phoenix Clan _Imperial bodyguard_. They were given to Lei Li as a gift. They are not ordinary weapons, mind you. They are enchanted and have a will of their own, and like their former master they are sworn to protect the Emperor. So if Wolfe-sama had wanted to harm the Emperor with them, they would not have co-operated. Meanwhile, Wolfe-sama too functions as a bodyguard, while he is present."

Harry was impressed. He had underestimated the security around the Emperor. Now it was time to start searching for clues relevant to his mission. "So tell me, would you want to theorise about the mastermind behind the attack of my fellow Ranger?"

"Why, that necromancer, of course," Shobo said, clearly not even willing to utter Yamato's name.

They were interrupted as the start of the banquet was announced. Everyone moved to one of the larger chambers in the palace, where the Emperor and his guests took their seats. The seating was pre-arranged, and Wolfe and Harry got side-by-side standing trays, Wolfe being flanked by Yuriko while Harry was stuck to Shobo. Unfortunately, conversation was perfectly acceptable during the banquet, and Harry had trouble remembering all the do's and don'ts with Shobo chattering away at him.

Shobo kept at it after the banquet too, and it was getting harder for Harry to mask his annoyance. He needed to escape, so he looked for Wolfe, who was nowhere to be seen. "Shobo-sama, have you seen Ranger Wolfe?"

The wizard looked around. "I do not know where he went. Shall I look for him?"

"Let's look for them together, lest one of these ladies attempts to lure me into a marriage with her daughter," Harry joked.

Shobo laughed heartily. "Let us try the gardens."

They set off at a leisurely pace through the corridors of the palace until they came upon a balcony that overlooked an extensive garden. Fairies, which had been summoned to function as decorations, sat on top of bushes, occasionally flying to another bush, or flitting around people who moved among them. There was no sign of Wolfe and Yuriko anywhere.

"Perhaps we should search the garden. Yuriko-san always spoke fondly of Wolfe-sama," he said suggestively. "This puts me in a bad position, for I was supposed to be her honour retainer, her er, I believe the word is chaperone." 

Harry frowned at this but didn't say anything. Did Wolfe resemble his grandfather in more ways than one? Had he inherited the roving eyes along with the looks? That wasn't possible. Harry assured himself that Wolfe was different from Commander Ironheart. "It's a big garden. How do you propose that we find them?"

"If they are indeed in the garden, we should each begin at one end and work our way towards the centre."

Harry agreed and made his way along the edge of the maze-like garden. It reminded him of the final task at the Triwizard Tournament. An involuntary shiver ran down Harry's spine as he remembered that night, the night that his nightmare had truly begun. He was reluctant to enter it, but Shobo was already gone, so there was nothing else for it. The hedges of the maze were low, obviously having been trimmed with Japanese wizards in mind, because Harry was tall enough to see over them. If Wolfe had been standing up, he should have been clearly visible.

An odd feeling settled in Harry's stomach as he entered the maze. What if he found Wolfe following his grandfather's example? Would he tell Hermione, or Galatea? Or should he cover for Wolfe, provided that Wolfe promised never to do it again?

He searched for another fifteen minutes and was tempted to shout, but he decided against it. Such behaviour would be frowned upon. Then he suddenly heard the rustling sound of someone brushing against the hedges. He hurried forward and rounded the corner. He saw two figures locked in an embrace, kissing each other. Neither of them was Wolfe, so Harry adhered to the ignorance rule and continued onwards.

Walking through all the pathways for many more minutes still yielded no results, and everything seemed quiet before he heard another rustling sound, which immediately stopped. Harry held his breath and listened. Everything had gone quiet; there weren't even any fairies in the immediate vicinity.

Harry didn't have a sixth sense, but years of experience had taught him when he was in potential danger, and he realised with a start that this was one of those times. The fairies had been evenly spread over the entire garden, but now the ones in his vicinity were absent. Wizards generally didn't scare fairies away, unless the fairies ran the risk of being squashed. Someone must have banished them.

He wasn't going to be ambushed here. He was going to get out safely so he could get back to Ginny! The power exploded out of his core and enveloped him in a dim white glow. His eyesight, hearing and sense of smell had sharpened, allowing him to hear the sharp intake of breath behind him, and allowing him to smell a faint aroma of jasmine. He leapt, magically boosting his jump, somersaulting over has attacker as the blade of a Japanese short-sword sliced through the space he had just occupied. His attacker, a female, seemed to be moving as if the Impediment jinx had hit her, while he seemed to move at regular speed.

Harry landed behind her, light as a feather. He knew he could take this assassin, no problem. From the wide-eyed look she gave him as she whipped around, he saw that she too had just realised that he wasn't an easy target. With a simple gesture, he wrenched the sword from her hand and called it into his own. He knew he could only harness this pure magic for short periods of time, and he didn't want to overtax himself. Even though he was now able to tap into his power at will, he'd never quite managed to hold onto it as long as he'd done it that first time. Time to make noise. "Woooolfe! Ranger under attack!"

The assassin drew a dagger, and Harry raised the captured sword into a middle guard. He didn't know as much about sword fighting as he'd like to, but he knew enough to defend himself long enough for help to arrive. But the assassin didn't attack him. She raised the dagger to her own chest and prepared to stab it into her heart. 

Instantly realising that he couldn't allow that to happen, Harry reacted, reaching for the power deep within his core and channelling it into a Disarming Charm. The knife shot out of the assassin's hand and plunged into a hedge instead. Then Harry pounced on the assassin, tackling her near her centre of gravity so she couldn't use an infighting manoeuvre against him. She landed on her back, Harry on top of her, straddling her chest and pinning her hands over her head.

He briefly thought that it was over, but proved to be sorely mistaken as her feet clamped around his neck to pull him backwards. In an instant, she was on top of him, her thin forearms were locked in his iron grip and held behind her back, her lightweight frame trapped against his. So it was a stalemate, until she kneed him in the crotch. He briefly squeezed her forearms even tighter, before slackening his grip, allowing her to pull free. But instead of pressing her advantage, she disappeared into the gardens again. 

Why she'd done that became apparent soon afterwards, when Wolfe landed in a crouch beside him. "Where did he go?"

"He's a she," Harry moaned. "She isn't afraid to fight dirty either." He couldn't breathe too deeply. It hurt much more if he did.

"Did you recognise her?" Wolfe asked, pulling Harry to his feet. He walked around Harry, examining him for other, more serious injuries.

"She was wearing a mask, no taller than five feet, very light, trim."

"You just described the average female assassin. I need more information than this."

"Oh, she smelled like jasmine," Harry remembered.

"Why have you been smelling my sister?" Wolfe growled.

"Not your sister, you _git_. The flower!"

"Oh. Hmm. So she smelled like jasmine? Aren't you forgetting something?" Wolfe asked. "This still isn't enough information."

Harry searched his memory for more details. He suddenly remembered. "Wolfe, I know this'll sound crazy, but she had grey eyes."

'That doesn't make sense," Wolfe said.

"Potter-sama, are you all right?" Shobo asked, stumbling over his robes. Yuriko crashed into him, sending them both crashing onto the ground.

Harry's pain had lessened considerably, and he held out his hand to help Yuriko to her feet. She blushed and took his hand. A flowery perfume wafted off her frame. "Jasmine."

"A keen nose, Potter-sama."

"It's very nice."

She blushed.

"Is it commonly used by the ladies of the court?" he asked.

"This particular scent is actually out of fashion." She frowned. "Why do you ask?"

"My attacker was wearing the same scent…" He suspended his sentence when a quartet of guards rounded the corner, bearing pole-arms. They asked Shobo a few questions, and Shobo replied in rapid Japanese. Then they guards hurried off.

"Won't do any good," Wolfe said. "The assassin is long gone."

Harry frowned. He wasn't so sure about that. But when Wolfe touched his shoulder and briefly gave him a knowing look, he knew that Wolfe agreed. But he didn't want to tell their Japanese companions for some reason.

"We would like our wands back, please," Wolfe said. "Please offer our apologies to the Emperor on our behalf. We did not mean to be rude."

"No apology is necessary, Ranger Wolfe." Harry turned around and saw the Emperor himself, striding towards them, flanked by his guard. "It is I who owes you an apology. I cannot even guarantee the safety of my guests anymore."

Then Harry noticed her, standing a few paces behind her father. Her grey eyes regarding him steadily. He gestured with both his hands, causing the sleeves of her kimono to slide upwards, revealing the beginning bruises on her lower arms. "I left marks on my attacker."

The guards stared at the arms incredulously, and the gasp from one of their throats prompted the Emperor to turn around. The old man began to shake, and Yuriko hurried forward to steady him. Harry didn't have to understand Japanese to understand the uttering of the Emperor. He looked at Wolfe and Harry with grief and shame etched onto his features. "Please, she will be dealt with, but allow this to remain a secret."

"I trust your wisdom in this matter," Wolfe said, cutting Harry off. 

Harry felt a surge of anger towards Wolfe. They had his would-be assassin! How could Wolfe let her get away like this? She was the princess, so it would be kept quiet for sure. But he didn't say anything. The chilly look Wolfe gave him told him to remain silent.

"Please, may we have our wands now? We have to leave," Wolfe said. "I sincerely regret the grief you must be feeling. I have no children of my own, but I know the kind of pain the loss of a relative can cause." Harry looked beyond the Emperor, just catching a glimpse of the princess being escorted away by two of the guards.

"The captain of my guard will take you to your wands," he said numbly. Then he was escorted away by the remaining guards, except for an older one, who took Harry and Wolfe out of the opposite end of the maze and guided them to where their wands had been stored. Then he silently escorted them to the entrance of the palace, bowed, and left.

Harry opened his mouth to speak, but Wolfe raised a quivering finger. Harry was taken aback by the anger visible on his face. His dark eyes were burning with a fury that Harry had only seen when Wolfe had recognised Skaras in the Indian complex, over a year ago. Then Wolfe Disapparated, and Harry followed.

Harry reappeared in the woods where Doc would meet up with them. His eyes quickly settled on Wolfe.

"What the hell were you thinking, exposing the princess like that!"

"Shobo told me about her skills. I knew it was her!"

"And you think I didn't? How many Japanese girls have grey eyes? Do you know how much embarrassment you have caused the Emperor, and how much grief? Yuriko has gathered some more information. The Emperor doesn't know anything about the attack on the Ranger…He didn't order it! And that girl's mind was a blank. She was as surprised as they were when she saw the bruises on her arms. Someone put her under the Imperius! Damn it, why didn't you trust my judgement in the matter?"

A question formed in Harry's mind, and Wolfe answered it before he could voice it. "I've been ordered to keep my gift under wraps. Very few people outside the Order know about it, and Commander Ironheart wanted to keep it that way. He even sent the word to the Weasleys not to talk about it. Besides, it wouldn't have changed a thing! She's an Imperial scion, she's supposed to be able to shake off the Imperius."

Harry opened his mouth, and again Wolfe cut him off. "I know that's an insane notion, but the Japanese wizards believe in it anyway. Now that everyone knows about it, she'll be banished, or worse, she'll be expected to commit seppuku! 

"The Emperor was thinking those thoughts when he left with his guard. That's his secret; unlike his forefathers, he can't throw off the Imperius either. He thinks the blood is thinning, even though I doubt that has something to do with it. Damn it, you should have trusted my judgement! You made a call on incomplete knowledge…Incomplete? Hell, _non-existent_ knowledge! And now we're in trouble!"

Harry was taken aback. "I-I didn't…"

"You didn't think!" Wolfe finished. "Well, don't think! Leave the thinking to me!"

"Really?" Harry sneered. "Bloody brilliant thinking you did when you allowed Malfoy to take Ginny!"

The fire burning in Wolfe's eyes hinted Harry to what was coming, as the tall Ranger pulled the swords out of his obi and tossed them on the ground. Tapping into his power reserve, he barely managed to evade Wolfe's punch. 

He was dimly aware of the gusts of wind that picked up the leaves and twigs from the grounds, twirling them around Wolfe and himself. Their collective energy was causing it. The twigs drifted around them very slowly, as if time was slowing down, but to Harry's shock, Wolfe wasn't. He was moving just as quickly as Harry was, and Harry doubled over as he took a vicious punch in the gut. He was lifted off the ground and fell down ten feet away. 

He just lay there for a while, clutching his stomach and gasping for breath. The pain was incredible. Lilia would have to have a look at him when they got back to the Cruiser.

"You still have a lot to learn," Wolfe said, standing over him, breathing heavily and trying to control his rage. "Someone is toying with _us_, and the Imperial family. One of his goals was to dishonour the Emperor, and thanks to you, he succeeded. Another problem you've caused is that no one in their right minds is going to want to assist us now, out of paranoia. Everyone has skeletons in his closet, and now they'll be afraid of being exposed. And that's the worst thing that could happen to a Japanese wizard. God, I hope that she isn't expected to kill herself."

"What's going on here?" Doc asked, seeing the red-faced Wolfe and the doubled-over Harry.

Wolfe didn't answer him. He just handed his wand to Doc, who began to subject it to a series of tests.

Harry, still clutching his stomach, was feeling incredibly stupid and guilty. He hadn't felt this way since being caught by McGonagall after smuggling Norbert out of Hogwarts. He was a Fifth Class Ranger, he needed to do better than this if he wanted to prove himself to the Order. After all, they had allowed him to skip a rank. Then again, maybe their trust in him _had_ been misplaced. He looked up at Wolfe and suddenly felt very inadequate. "How-how did you become so fast?"

"I've been training and meditating."

"What, where, when…why?"

"In Concordia, in the forest. I managed to train for about a week when I was supposed to be taking a break, after…" Wolfe didn't continue the sentence, but Harry knew he was talking about his mistake. "But I had too much energy to burn, and I had to keep my mind off Galatea to keep my sanity," he added gloomily. Then he smirked. "I also hate being second best!"

Harry slowly straightened up. Wolfe had been training to surpass him! "Then I'd better start training too."

"I asked you to train with me last week, remember? But you were too busy relaxing." Wolfe shook his head. "You're more powerful than I am. There's no question about that. But you need to stay sharp. In our line of work it could mean the difference between life and death. And I want to grow old with Galatea before I'm ready to die. That's why I train."

"Apart from your desire to beat me." Harry smirked.

"I don't want to beat you for the sake of beating you. You just make me push myself to the limit. I think I ought to start returning the favour, because you've been slacking off!" Wolfe said sternly, making Harry feel very much like a student being reprimanded.

"Are we any closer to finding out why Gavin's been attacked?" Doc asked, handing Wolfe's wand back to him and taking Harry's wand to subject it to the same tests.

Wolfe shook his head. "Not yet. But Yuriko told me about someone who might know things. Harry and I are going to pay him a visit as soon as possible."

***

Wow, I've never done this before. 

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Fatcat: Glad that I'm saving you from boredom.

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Omacron: Hopefully! I'll do everything within my power. 

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nycgal: Another Israeli Ranger? Sorry, but there will be a small part for a female Jewish Ranger from NYC later in the story.

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Gogirl: Good questions.

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Kayos: Glad you liked it.

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Pheonixman: What I meant by that? Wait and see!

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Pottyman: I do my best. Thanks. 

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Sorensen: Yeah, poor Harry.

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clifjumpr13: This Japanese setting wouldn't have been possible without my very talented beta, Christine. She deserves the bulk of the credit for this. Sixty percent of the contents of this chapter was made possible by _her_ research. What a woman!

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Dezz: Stay cool!

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banana_flower: So, you can't wait for Harry and Ginny's reunion, eh? *cackles evilly*** **Neither can I.

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teazer: Yeah, that tagline motivates me to give you guys the best story I can write. I'll give it my best shot!

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bubblez fairy: I think it'll be pretty intense.

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Songhamdragon: I'm going as fast as I can.

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Petals: Okay, I'll write more. Did I mention this might become a trilogy?

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Honey666: Spread the word! Thanks for your support, btw. 

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Temporary Insanity: Ginny's training in two fields.

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sk8reagle: It'll get worse…or better, depends how you look at it, really.

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pamela-potter-24: Welcome aboard, and I'll make Harry and Ginny's reunion as memorable as I can. Muwahahahaha!

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Casual Reader: Yep, there's going to be plenty of action. That's why I placed this story in General. It's mostly Action/ Adventure, but there's also Mystery, Drama, and Angst…

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Nosgoroth: Not really Star Trek. If I were to compare it to a Star Trek ship, the closest would be the Defiant-Class. But I have something more organic looking in mind.

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Saerry Snape: Looks like! 


	3. Unexpected Reunion

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Disclaimer: You know the drill, see first chapter.

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Author's Note: A special thanks to those who reviewed chapter 2. However, I made the mistake of posting on a Sunday, so I got bumped out of the top 25 in less than a day. :-( Thus, many of you probably didn't even know that I updated. That, coupled with the fact that it was a slow chapter was probably the cause of the relatively few reviews…I hope. Maybe you've just decided that my story sucks. 

So I worked really hard on chapter 3 so I could post it. I hope you'll like this one better. Chapter four is still on the drawing board, though. I have no idea when I'll update next. I have to send it through two beta's first.

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Unexpected Reunion

Chapter 3

Five long weeks had passed, each week without Harry was torture. The torture had increased, ever since she'd learned that _Heidi_ had been sent on the same mission. Taking a deep breath, Ginny forced her jealousy away. Those feelings were unfounded. Harry and Heidi's romantic relationship was ancient history. She couldn't allow it to distract her; she had a job to do. 

Ginny wiped a sweaty lock of hair out of her eyes. To her mum's dismay, Ginny had decided to keep her hair short, like Gudrun did. She liked Gudrun, who had somewhat replaced Hermione in the older sister role, ever since Hermione and Ron had become _really_ serious. Their moving in together had changed a few things ever so subtly, and they were spending a lot of time together. Ginny had a feeling that Hermione was about to become her sister-in-law.

"Hey, Ginny!"

Ginny looked up and saw her brother coming her way, hand in hand with Hermione. She forced a smile onto her face, not liking the feelings of envy that surged up, but not being able to do anything about them. Ron and Hermione were practically joined at the hip, while Harry was stuck in Japan, away from _her_... and with _Heidi_!

Taking another moment to force her, no doubt, unfounded jealousy out of her mind, Ginny noticed there was something odd about the way Ron was strutting around, holding Hermione's hand. Hermione seemed to be glowing too… Something was definitely going on!

"Wait a minute!" Ginny said, as she lowered her working goggles over her head and stared into an open hatch on top of the _Zephyrus_. It was nearly ready to go. Ginny only needed to double-check these main potion conduits for hairline fractures, so she magnified the view in her goggles accordingly, and started to meticulously work her way along the tube. It was very important work…not at all like one of the first jobs Percy had ever had, namely researching the thickness of cauldron bottoms. Then, finally done, she pushed the goggles onto her forehead.

"Good Lord, look at the size of that rock!" Ginny heard Gudrun exclaim. Ginny tapped the disc she was sitting on with her wand, and the disc detached itself from the hull, taking Ginny to the maintenance bay floor. Hermione was holding out her hand, and Gudrun was examining a ring on her finger…A ring!

"Oh Ron, you proposed?" Ginny squealed, jumped off the disc and running over to Ron and Hermione. Their radiant smiles answered her question and she threw her arms around both of them. Then she released them and punched Ron in the shoulder teasingly. "Took you long enough, you prat."

Ron shrugged. "Actually, Hermione gave me plenty of hints before I caught on."

"We've lived together for a month now." Hermione smiled. "To be honest, I dreaded it destroying our relationship. I'm happy I was wrong. It only got stronger."

Ron kissed her on the tip of her nose. "Even the best of us are wrong sometimes, Herm."

The expected scolding never came, and Ginny frowned. "Wow, he can give you pet names now?"

"I never objected to Herm! And only Ron is allowed to call me that."

"Ron, this must have cost a fortune," Gudrun said, drooling over the diamond.

"Yeah, where did you get that much gold?" Ginny frowned.

"Ron asked George for a loan, but George told him to consider it a wedding gift," Hermione said. "Isn't that sweet?"

Ginny was shocked. "Ron asked George for a loan?" She couldn't imagine Ron having done that. His pride would have got in the way. "Didn't it bother you to go to George for a loan?"

"For Hermione, I'd swallow my pride anytime," Ron said solemnly. "Besides, I bet there's a catch. Susie and Millie never had godparents."

Ginny sighed. It was true. Lee and Alicia were Arthur's godparents. Angelina's older sister Beatrice, and Charlie, were Fred's godparents, and Bill and Fleur were godparents to Cassidy and Duncan. Things had been at their worst during Millie and Susie's time of birth, mere months before Voldemort's downfall. No one had wanted to assume responsibility over two infants in a time when everyone's life had been in danger.

"So what if there's a catch?" Hermione said airily.

"I'd pay any price for you, even if it means becoming those little devils' godfather." Ron smiled and bent down to kiss Hermione.

Gudrun pretended to gag. "_Please_, in the privacy of your own home. What are you two doing down here anyway? Need our help with something?"

"Ginny's got combat training in fifteen minutes. She was already supposed to be in the Training Hall," Ron said.

"Well, I had to finish up with the Cruiser," Ginny said defensively.

"And you completely forgot," Hermione said, smiling knowingly.

"I did!" Ginny groaned, feeling stupid. "But there's a good reason! Gudrun, came we show them?"

"I don't see why not." Gudrun shrugged. "Just don't talk about it when you're off the base."

Nearly bursting with anticipation, Ginny dragged Hermione and Ron to another smaller chamber, where her new project was standing.

Hermione's eyes widened and Ron's mouth fell open. "Bloody hell, what's that?"

"My new boyfriend," Gudrun said, as Ron and Hermione gazed at the thirty-foot tall skeletal figure. "The men in the city were such a disappointment that I decided to build a real man myself."

Ginny elbowed Gudrun in the ribs. "It's a Mech—at least—it's going to be. The idea to build one of these has existed for ages. But there was still some animation spells and power issues that had to be worked out, since you can't charm it like you'd charm a golem. See, all golem makers do is carve something out of the appropriate materials and slap a few animation spells on them, with a cognition crystal to give it some intelligence, if that's required."

"Your little sister here came with a theory. Charm several segments of the construct separately, each with its own function, and create a cognition crystal to co-ordinate the various charms. That's never been done in golems," Gudrun said, smiling at Ginny proudly. "I knew you were special from the moment I first saw you."

Ginny felt her face go red. "Well, for some reason it never occurred to the other artificers to charms several segments separately. But our limbs and organs have their each have their functions, and are co-ordinated by the brain. So what I've proposed, really, is just to re-create a human body on a large scale. I guess my mediwitch training gave me an angle that the others didn't have…But we don't know if it'll work yet," she added quickly. "It was just a theory."

"You need to have more self-confidence, my young apprentice," Gudrun said, grabbing Ginny in a chokehold and ruffling her hair.

Ginny struggled to break free, but Gudrun was too strong. Finally, Gudrun released her. "You really need that combat training…Scram! You're almost late."

Ginny glanced at her watch. "Damn, if I'm late again I'm screwed!" Then she hurried off, just hearing Ron tell Gudrun off for being a bad influence on her and giving her a foul mouth. She shook her head, not understanding why Ron still perceived her as an innocent little baby.

Not living in the Citadel, Ginny had her own little room that served as a storage room for her equipment and a changing room. She stripped off the stained coverall she'd worn in the maintenance bay and donned her all-purpose training outfit. Whether it was duelling or hand-to-hand combat, the same type of outfit was always worn, reflecting the Ranger's philosophy that the wand wasn't a wizard's only means of defence.

She finally ran into the Training Hall, clutching a stitch in her side. She really needed to work on her endurance.

"So nice of you to join us, Miss Weasley. Why don't you have a seat?" Ginny's eyes widened. It was Wolfe!

"What are you doing here?" she blurted out. "Where's Harry?"

I'm covering for Captain Faust. As for Harry, he'll head this way on the Cruiser in about an hour!" Wolfe said, the tiniest smile on his face. "You'll see him soon enough, but for now I need your concentration."

Ginny felt her face growing hot again, and her six classmates sniggered. How could Wolfe ask her to concentrate? Harry was finally coming back!

Wolfe walked up to her. "I know I'm asking a lot. I haven't seen Galatea yet either, but if you don't pay attention in this class you could get hurt," he whispered. Then he gestured to a gap in the circle.

Ginny plopped down onto the mat. She'd waited five weeks. What were a few more hours? Pure torture…

"Now we begin," Wolfe said. "Today, I will teach you about fighting multiple opponents. You will be divided into groups of four, and you will take turns ganging up on a single defender. I will be a part of one of those groups, but I'll go easy on you. You won't learn much if I stun you right away, after all."

A tall and burly Swedish wizard, Larsson, snorted derisively at Wolfe's comment. Ginny didn't like him. He was a Combat Ranger, and incredibly egotistical, even though he wasn't nearly as great as he boasted to be.

Wolfe frowned. "I take it you disagree with something I said?"

"No offence, _sir_, " the Swede began in a tone that suggested that avoiding offence was the last thing on his agenda. "But I think you underestimate me. Unlike these rug-rats, I've seen combat. Your reputation precedes you, but you I think I could hold my own against you for a while."

Wolfe smiled. "Really? Well, if this is the case, you're wasting your time in this group. You ought to be in a more advanced programme."

"Does this mean I'm excused?"

"Let _me_ be the judge of your skill!" Wolfe paced about in the circle. "If it takes me longer then ten seconds to beat you, you can move to an advanced class."

"Ten seconds?"

Wolfe nodded.

Larsson grinned. "You underestimate me."

Wolfe shrugged. "Maybe, we'll see, won't we?" He beckoned Larsson to follow him, and tossed his wand to Ginny. "Hold that for me. I won't be needing it."

Ginny caught it, frowning. She knew Wolfe was very good, but Larsson wasn't a rookie. He'd worked as an Auror for a few years, and apparently he'd been good too.

"Now the object of the exercise is for you to stun me. You'd better pack a lot of energy into your spell, otherwise it won't harm me." Wolfe smirked. "Just thought I'd let you know, since I have a big advantage."

Larsson sneered. "Oh, I will!"

Wolfe moved away, and stopped some twenty-five feet away from Larsson. "Knock yourself out!"

"_Stupefy_!" Larsson screamed immediately, attempting to surprise Wolfe with speed.

Wolfe twisted sideways with such speed that his movement was blurry, and the beam was deflected off a wand-less Shield Charm. Larsson had taken Wolfe's advice, however, because the impact of the stunner on the Shield Charm spun Wolfe around.

Not wanting to give Wolfe any chance, Larsson shifted his wand to Wolfe's new position, but a piece of cloth wrapped itself around his face. Next thing Ginny knew, Wolfe had whizzed over to where Larsson stood, and plucked the wand out of his hand. It was then that Ginny noticed that the piece of cloth that had wrapped itself around Larsson's face was Wolfe's sleeve. His muscular left arm was exposed…He must have ripped it off as he was being spun around, and guided it to his opponent's face with a Banishing Charm. 

"There, that was about five seconds!" Wolfe said, twirling Larsson's wand between his fingers. "I should have stunned him to formally end this bout, but Mr Larsson won't learn anything if he's stunned. Now, who can tell me where he went wrong?"

Ginny stuck up her hand.

"Well?"

"He underestimated you!"

"Exactly what about me did he underestimate, Miss Weasley?"

Ginny frowned. "Your skill."

"Yes, but is that all?"

Ginny shrugged. "I guess."

"Are you sure?"

"Uh, no."

"No!" Wolfe nodded, and pulled out a little talisman that hung around his neck. "Anybody know what this is?"

"Curse Deflector," Ginny said quickly. Being an apprentice artificer, not knowing would have been a crime for her. They were very rare and expensive, and they would fetch a high sum on the black market.

"Yes, a powerful and complicated talisman that deflects all hexes, jinxes and curses, save the unforgivable ones, back onto their caster. So I just could have waited for the stunner to hit me. It would have gone right back at him. But I didn't, and in a real fight, I wouldn't. Can anyone tell me why?"

Ginny's hand shot up again, prompting another small smile from Wolfe. "Let's give someone else a chance, shall we?" He looked at Larsson. "Why didn't I just take the stunner?"

"You wanted the amulet to remain a secret, until you really needed it." Larsson said.

"Very good, Mr Larsson." Wolfe looked at the apprentices. "So, define Mr Larsson's mistakes in the broadest sense."

"Incomplete intelligence on the opposition," Pima Yadaz, a Nepalese woman with a shaven head, said. She was an aspiring Intelligence Ranger.

"Correct," Wolfe said, taking off the talisman. "Form groups of four. Larsson, Ramos…you're with me! If you're going to be Combat Rangers you'll need the extra challenge."

With visible reluctance, the aspiring Combat Rangers joined Wolfe.

"Any volunteers who want to complete this group?" Wolfe asked.

The others mumbled and shook their heads, quickly forming into a group of four and leaving Ginny alone. "Well, looks like they _decided for_ me." She sighed. "I'm your woman, I guess."

"Really, I thought you were Potter's woman," Larsson said, and Ginny flushed red.

"Oh, shut up, you!"

*

Training with the Combat Rangers had been very tiring. Wolfe had really pushed her to the limit, and to her embarrassment she'd always hit the mat much earlier than Larsson or Ramos. But Wolfe had been pleased with her progress at the end of the session.

Ginny waved at Wolfe to get his attention. "So when will Harry get here?" She wanted to know whether she had time to go home and soak in the tub for an hour, or whether she should take a quick shower.

"If all went according to plan, they should have taken off from Hokkaido an hour ago. You still have some time to prepare yourself for him!" Wolfe said, stony-faced. But the twinkle in his dark eyes revealed his amusement.

Ginny blushed again. This was not a good day, but at least her facial tissue was getting plenty of blood. "An hour?"

"Plenty of time." Wolfe nodded.

"Thank God!" Ginny sighed. She'd really been looking forward to a relaxing bath, almost as much as she was looking forward to her reunion with Harry. "So why did you come here first, anyway? Why didn't you come with the others?"

"I wanted to file a report to Commander Nomvete now, so we can discuss it with the whole team immediately after they get here. I'm just trying to save some time, since we'll be heading back out the day after tomorrow. We just came here to swap Cruisers and get supplies and some new orders. Yamato's trail has got cold anyway. There were so many false leads that we decided to try to get a different perspective. But I want to get the business part done as soon as possible, so I can spend more time with Galatea and my sister and nephew.

"Anyway, I'd better go make myself presentable for Galatea too!" Wolfe said, a big grin appearing on his face. Galatea was the only one who could make him smile like that…Galatea! Sweat broke out of Ginny's pores. How would Wolfe react to Galatea's pregnancy…Oh, she shouldn't think those things. She sneaked a look at Wolfe, but he was staring off into space, thankfully oblivious to her thoughts. He wasn't using his power, thank goodness.

"Ginny, could you do me a favour?"

Ginny nodded, trying her best to keep her thoughts away from Galatea.

"Don't tell Galatea I've arrived. I want to surprise her…" He frowned as he saw her flushed and sweaty face. "Are you all right?"

"Fine, just feeling the after-effects of training with Combat Rangers," Ginny said, trying to hide her unease behind a smile. "Sure, I won't tell Galatea," she lied. She had to give her friend every possible advantage. It was a good thing that Wolfe had his gift 'switched off' at the moment. It would have complicated matters enormously if he hadn't.

"Thanks Ginny!" Wolfe said cheerfully, as hurried away. Ginny could have sworn that Wolfe skipped a couple of steps as he strolled away…He was in an awfully good mood. Too bad the awfully good mood would probably turn into a plain awful mood once Galatea dropped the bomb on him. Nothing shocked a man more than an unexpected baby, so Galatea had been preparing herself for the worst.

She hurriedly changed into some clothes and took a Portal from the Citadel to a Portal on the sixth tier. Taking huge steps, she walked home, the heavy doors opening before her as they recognised her.

She threw her cloak on the hanger. "Galatea?"

"She's bowing to the porcelain goddess again, poor girl," Gudrun said. "You look beat. Rough training?"

"Wolfe's back in town! The others will arrive in a few hours…He wants to surprise Galatea."

"Whoa, we can't let that happen." Gudrun nodded. "Come on, let's go interrupt her toilet-bowl worship."

Taking two steps at the time, the climbed to the first floor, where the independent rooms were all located. The door to Galatea's room was closed, and Ginny knocked.

"It's open," Galatea called weakly from behind the door.

Ginny opened the door and found Galatea sprawled on her bed. "Oh dear, how are you feeling?"

Much better actually. I managed to digest those crackers you gave me before I started throwing up. This is only the second time today that I've thrown up. I think I'm getting used to the nausea. Hopefully I'll be able to hold my food next week. Can't starve the baby."

"No, you can't." Ginny smiled.

Galatea's eyes narrowed, sensing Ginny's feeling. "Why are you worried?"

"Wolfe came back a few hours ago. He filled in for Captain Faust…he's on his honeymoon with Lieutenant Cliff, remember?"

"I already know." Galatea sighed. "Hermione saw him shortly after he arrived, she told me."

Ginny heaved a sigh of relief. Of course! Ron had told her to hurry up to get to her training. He'd already known about Wolfe, and probably about Harry as well. "So you're ready for him?"

"As ready as I'll ever be. I even bought him a book!" She showed it to Ginny, who read the title, _A Survival Guide for the partner of a pregnant part-Veela._

Ginny smiled. "I'll have to give this a read too, since I'll be taking care of you." She got up. "Now I need to take a long hot bath and make myself look pretty for my boyfriend." She sniffed the air. The scent was emanating from Gudrun. "My turn with that foam!"

"I'll go get it!" Gudrun grinned, and stalked off to her own room. 

Ginny entered her bedroom and headed straight towards the door that led to her bathroom. She filled the bathtub with warm water and threw in some bath salts. Then she gathered all her bathing accessories and lined them up on the edge of the tub, before taking her clothes off and easing herself into the water.

Gudrun appeared in the doorway to the bathroom, and tossed a flask to Ginny.

"Thanks!" Ginny said, and she proceeded to open it. 

The water was kept at the right temperature by a special heating charm, and Ginny felt like she could soak in her tub forever. She took her time lathering her limbs with foam that Gudrun had nicked from Heidi's room. Ginny had to admit that Heidi's expensive bathing foam was very luxurious, and it made her skin extremely soft and fragrant. She smiled to herself. Stealing Heidi's stuff was kind of tradition that all the resident witches of the townhouse indulged in. They would all pitch in to replace it, of course, but only after Heidi was annoyed by finding the empty bottle.

All good things had to come to an end, and her finger and toes were getting wrinkly, signalling that it was time to get out. So Ginny climbed out of the tub and dried herself off. Then she used a drying charm on her hair to get it to dry properly and give it some volume, before she brushed it thoroughly.

She admired her handiwork in the mirror.

"Knock out!" the mirror praised, prompting another smile from Ginny. Gudrun had altered the personalities of the mirrors throughout the house.

Next, she went into her closet to bought out her new, low-cut, forest-green dress that she'd bought on a shopping trip with Hermione, and a very reluctant Ron, who'd been dragged away from a Quidditch match for it. He'd protested loudly, saying that the dress made her look like a scarlet woman, much to her embarrassment, because it drew the attention of several other shoppers to them. She reminded herself to get Ron for that as she laced up a darker green bodice over it, which pushed up her breasts. 

Lastly, she tugged the sleeves down over her pale and lightly freckled shoulders.

"Dressed to kill! Who's the victim?" the mirror asked.

A loud thud coming from Heidi's room prevented Ginny from telling off the mirror. She jumped into her slippers and darted out of her room, crossing the hallway to get to Galatea's. She found the white-haired witch bending over the unconscious form of her boyfriend.

"What happened?" Ginny gasped.

"He read my mind," Galatea replied. "I was expecting something to happen!"

"What? His reading your mind or his fainting?"

"Both."

Ginny was awed. If that were true, Galatea knew her boyfriend very well. This made Ginny wonder how well she knew Harry. How would _he_ react if he got hit with news like this? She bit her lip.

Wolfe groaned and slowly opened his eyes, locking them to Galatea's gaze.

"I'm…" Galatea began, but Wolfe's finger covered her lips.

"Don't be sorry. I can see what happened. I wasn't expecting this to happen so soon."

"I forgot…"

"It's okay," Wolfe said, sitting up. "We'll just have to make the best of things."

Ginny released her breath with relief. It was a good thing that Wolfe was a Mind Reader. Galatea didn't have to convince him of her intentions anymore. He'd immediately seen what was going on.

Wolfe smiled. "You didn't expect me to take it like this?" he asked Galatea, who must have been thinking the same thoughts that Ginny had. His gaze was still locked with Galatea's as she nodded mutely. "You expected me to get angry at you?"

"Yes!" Galatea said, wiping away the tears in her eyes.

"Oh Tea, why would I be angry? I've been dreaming of having a family with you ever since I fell in love with you. If I walked up to the Mirror of Erised right now, I'd see myself exactly the way I am."

"Damn, when did you get so romantic?" Gudrun interrupted, making Ginny feel like cursing her into the next week. She had just ruined a perfectly romantic moment.

"Shut, up, Gudrun…Get lost!" Ginny snapped.

"Hmm, it was getting good, huh?"

Wolfe cleared his throat. "Could I have a little privacy, please?"

"For what?" Gudrun asked.

"Really, Gudrun!" Ginny admonished, pulling her out of the room and closing the door behind her.

"So, why do you suppose he wanted to be alone with her?"

"They haven't seen each other for a while…" Ginny felt a flash of envy as she said that. She was still waiting to see Harry. "We should give them some space."

She looked at Gudrun, who was frowning at her. "You okay?"

"Of course!"

Gudrun shook her head. "I may not be a Mind Reader, but I can see right through you. You're worried about something…Your relationship with Harry?"

"Ginny!" Wolfe's alarmed voice rang from behind the door.

She quickly opened the door, and saw an unconscious Galatea hanging in Wolfe's arms. From the looks of things he'd managed to catch her right before she fell off her bed. 

"Good Lord, Tea! What happened?"

"We were talking, and then she fainted. Is she sick?" Wolfe asked worriedly.

"Put her on the bed," Ginny said. "I think this was all a bit too much for her. She was very anxious about how you'd react." She checked Galatea's breathing and pulse. "I don't think there's anything wrong with her. She'll wake up in a minute or two. What happened anyway? She's been experiencing the normal pregnancy symptoms, but she hasn't been prone to fainting so far…"Her eye fell on a little box that lay on the floor. It was opened and revealed a sparkling ring. She looked at Wolfe. "You proposed?"

Wolfe blushed and nodded.

Ginny smiled. "I guess that explains it. She's been under a lot of stress lately, worrying about how she'd tell you. I guess the emotions got to her."

"Are you sure that's all?"

Ginny nodded, and Galatea indeed woke up after a minute or two, consented to marrying Wolfe with a kiss, before beginning to cry at the top of her lungs.

Wolfe gave Ginny a bewildered look. "What…What did I do?"

Gudrun chuckled and picked up a book from Galatea's nightstand and handed it to Wolfe. "You'd better read this. She was going to give it to you…It might save your life! Anyway, I gotta fly. I have a date!" She left the room.

Wolfe read the title and paled. "I heard about part-Veela pregnancies but I thought the stories were all a bit exaggerated."

"They're not." Ginny said, feeling slightly sorry for Wolfe. She decided to change the subject to one of her favourite ones. "So, when will Harry arrive?"

Wolfe checked his chrono. "If you leave for the Citadel in half an hour you'll get there with some time to spare. There's no rush."

"All right," Ginny said, sitting down in an armchair. "How is he doing?"

"He's fine," Wolfe said, a frown appearing on his face. "I was too tough on him, though. I blamed him for something he had no control over. He was never trained to handle such situations, so he wasn't really to blame…I am." He sighed. "I don't know why he was paired up with me. I'm a terrible teacher. What kind of teacher vents his frustration on a student?" he asked morosely. "I pounded his self-esteem in a vulnerable moment."

"What happened?"

"Can't talk about it here," Wolfe said. "We could talk about it at the Citadel." He looked at Galatea. "Unless you want me to stay?"

"I'll come along," Galatea answered. "Just give me a moment." She dragged herself into her bathroom and shut the door.

"Err, Ginny?" Wolfe asked uncertainly.

"Yes?"

"I was wondering…Galatea and I haven't even set a date yet, but I want to ask you…Do you want to be part of the ceremony?"

The request caught Ginny by surprise. "Why me?" Wizarding weddings had plenty of supporting roles, but close friends and relatives usually filled those.

"Well, I was thinking about both you and Harry sharing a role. Both of you saved my life, and you forgave me when I really couldn't expect any forgiveness. You're a really good person, Ginny. I'd be honoured…"

Ginny felt her face heat up for the hundredth time that day. "All right then, provided that I'm available, at the date of the wedding, of course. Who knows, I may be out on a mission."

"Don't worry about that. If you are, I'm sure the Commander can arrange for you to be present. Besides, Galatea and I will only get married after things have quieted down a bit." He chuckled ruefully. "Who knows when that will be, though. But I just felt that this was the right time to propose to her, to show her that she's the one I want to be with."

Ginny rubbed her finger where Harry's ring used to be. Malfoy probably still had it. Why hadn't Harry given her a new ring? Not that she needed it…She knew that Harry loved her, but a symbol of that love would have been nice.

They waited for Galatea to get ready, and together they set off for the Citadel.

*

Harry was glad that he was finally returning to the Citadel.

The mission in Japan had come to a grinding halt when they found the person who had supposedly known something about the people behind the attacks on Gavin, and possibly Harry, facedown in the woods near one of the many Fire-creature Farms on Hokkaido. Salamanders and Ashwinders were bred there, and their products were exported throughout the world, making it them a key pillar in the wizarding economy of Japan, or so Heidi had said. Harry didn't understand what that had to do with their mission, though. Wolfe had been right all along…Heidi shouldn't have been sent on that mission with them. All she'd managed to do was get on Wolfe's nerves. 

Harry had been awake for thirty-eight hours, first watching Gavin and Doc's backs as they looked for clues left behind by the killers of Yuriko's contact. Then he and Wolfe had met with Yuriko to discuss the results.

During their meeting with her, they'd also learned that the princess was being kept in a well-guarded castle at a secret location. Even Yuriko didn't know where it was, since all travel to and from the unplottable fortress was done by Portkey.

Harry wished they'd just used Portkey mode to instantly travel to the Citadel, but this energy-consuming feat was reserved for emergencies only. His impatience must have been written all over his face, because Gavin offered him a weak smile. "You miss your girl?"

"A little."

The small Welsh wizard raised his eyebrows at Harry's answer.

"Okay…" Harry corrected "A lot!"

"I know how you feel." Gavin sighed. "You're lucky that you get to see Ginny at the Citadel, though. Mayumi's out on a mission of her own, so I'm going to miss her, again. I haven't seen her since July."

Harry looked away, a bit embarrassed by this. Gavin hadn't seen his girl for over two months, but he was handling it well, while Harry was practically falling apart after three weeks of Ginny-deprivation. "I'm sorry."

Gavin shrugged. "It's a sacrifice you have to make for a relationship with a fellow Ranger. There's no telling when you'll see each other again. Make the most of your day with Ginny tomorrow."

"Thanks."

"Don't mention it. And you'd better get a bit of sleep. Commander Nomvete wants a meeting with us upon arrival. We can't have you dozing off then."

Harry got up and headed towards the sleeping quarters. He found Heidi sitting up on one of the beds, rubbing the sleep out of her eyes. "Have we left for the Citadel yet?"

"Yes. Done sleeping?"

Heidi nodded.

Harry threw himself on another bed. "Wake me up when we get there, okay?"

"Sure." Heidi said, straightening her uniform. "Sleep tight."

"Thanks…" Harry yawned, before almost instantly falling into an uneasy sleep.

~

He found himself in an empty room, with a spotlight shining onto him. He was reminded of an interrogation chamber. 

"Why didn't you trust my judgement? The great Harry Potter feels like the rules don't apply to him!" Wolfe said, stepping into the edge of the light. 

"But…How could I have known?"

Ironheart came intro the light and stood next to Wolfe. "I don't know what I was thinking. You seemed so promising to me. I reckon it was a false promise, eh? I thought something as simple as this wouldn't be beyond you!"

A woman with long, raven hair stepped into the light.

"Carey!" Harry cried out, immobilised by her penetrating gaze. "Carey…I…" He looked away, unable to meet her sorrowful gaze any longer.

"How many more mistakes are you going to make?" she asked, tears rolling down her cheeks. "Isn't the grief you've caused me by leaving bad enough?"

"I'm sorry…I didn't know. Why didn't you tell me?"

"Aren't you the great Harry Potter?" Wolfe sneered. "You're supposed to be perfect. Don't you have all the answers?"

"I'm just a man!" Harry croaked, forcing the words past the lump in his throat.

"Harry…Harry!" a disembodied voice called. "Harry, wake up!"

~

His eyes shot open. His eyes immediately met Heidi's concerned gaze.

"Harry, you were having a bad dream! Are you okay?"

"Fine…" he said, the dream already fading from his memory.

"Are you sure?" she asked. "Do you still have many bad dreams?"

Harry frowned. What did she mean by that? "Still?"

He could still see Heidi's blush in the dim light. "You had them when, when we were…"

It was Harry's turn to blush. Of course! They'd slept in the same bed a few times. "Why didn't you tell me then?"

"I didn't think you'd want to be confronted with them."

"Thanks," he said awkwardly. "Uh, are we there yet?"

Heidi shook her head. "Another hour. You should use it to sleep. I'll wake you up when we get there!"

"Thanks, Heidi!" Harry said, closing his eyes. Soon, sleep overtook him again, and this time it was a bit more peaceful.

*

Wolf-whistles emanated from all over the maintenance bay as Ginny walked in. It took her a while to realise they were all directed at her.

"Hey there, sweetheart." Matt Kelly grinned as he dropped a crate and swaggered over to her. "I've been looking for you my whole life."

"Yeah? Well, that must be because I've been hiding from the likes of you," Ginny replied coolly. 

"Crash and burn, Aussie!" Ethan Johnson, a field Intel Ranger, and no relation of Angelina's, said. He was a friend of Gudrun's and Ginny had seen a lot of him during her time in Concordia. "Don't mind him, Ginny. What are you doing here, all dressed up?"

"Harry's coming back today!" Ginny said shyly. She looked at Matt and a few other Rangers loading the _Notus._ "Where are you off to?"

"Standard patrol. It's a bummer, though. It wasn't scheduled, but Command decided that extra patrols are needed."

"Hold on, Ron was supposed to go on a standard patrol mission too!" Ginny remembered. 

"Yeah, he's coming with us. He should be down here any minute…He should have been here already, helping us load!"

"Probably pashing it out with Hermione in some dark corner." Matt sniggered.

"Get back to work, you!" Johnson said. "Anyway, I'm disappointed because I was hoping to go visit my folks in Detroit and work on a car I'm restoring. I wanted to bring I with me so I could work on it here, but no Muggle technology is allowed in Concordia unless there's a special Muggle artefacts show."

Ginny's eyes lit up as she remembered spying on her dad as he put all sorts of charms on the old Ford Anglia. "Really, and you're going to charm it too?"

Johnson laughed. "Not allowed, unless I'm donating the car to the Ministry of Magic. They're the only ones who are allowed to have magical automobiles, _technically_." He winked. "So yeah, I might slap on a charm or two…"

"Hey…Johnson!" Ginny cringed as she recognised Ron's outraged voice. "What do you want with my sister!"

"Honestly, Ron!" Hermione huffed. "They were just having a friendly conversation."

"Men don't have _friendly conversations_ with girls dressed like scarlet women!"

That was it! Ginny's anxiety over wanting to see Harry, along with a growing annoyance towards Ron's overprotective brother act, made Ginny snap. She pulled her wand out of a long and thin pocket hidden by the folds of her dress. _"Furnunculus!"_

With Ginny's reflexes sharpened by her training with three Combat Rangers, Ron never stood a chance. Ugly green boils started breaking out of his skin. Everyone who'd been witnessing the scene burst out laughing. 

"Ginny…you're not allowed to curse fellow Rangers!" Hermione admonished, raising her voice so it could still be heard over the laughter. "You'll get in trouble!"

The female Weasley smirked. Some things never changed. "I wasn't cursing Ron as a Ranger. I was cursing him as my brother. He had it coming!"

"He did, didn't he?" Hermione giggled.

"_Hermione_!" Ron complained. "These things itch…There's pus all over my clothes!" 

Hermione performed the counter-curse and the boils began to fade slowly. Then she waved her wand and the puss disappeared off his robes. "Come on, let's go someplace where I can give you a more thorough examination."

"More thorough examination indeed!" Matt Kelly teased, causing Hermione to turn a nice shade of pink as she pulled Ron along, towards a corridor that lead to the equipment storage area.

Ginny watched Matt and Johnson loading the Notus, occasionally helping out by levitating a crate too. Then, a loud humming sound filled the bay, and a seconds later the Cruiser that was producing the sound dropped its invisibility. It hovered a bit further, before landing gently behind the Notus

Ginny hurried over to the Cruiser and jumped onto the loading ramp before it had completely lowered. She nearly knocked over Gavin Carey.

"Watch it!"

"Sorry…Harry?"

"No, Gavin!" 

Ginny scowled. "I meant, where's Harry?" 

The small wizard smiled. "Sleeping quarters."

Ginny took a levitation disc up to the next deck, and hurried toward the sleeping quarters. Her heart skipped a beat, as she saw Harry sleeping peacefully on his side. She pushed him onto his back and ran her hand through his unruly black hair. Then she bent down and kissed him on the lips. "Wake up, sleepy head!"

Harry gave her a confused smile as his eyes fluttered open. "Heidi?"

***

**A/N: **I'll answer reviews again after chapter 4. By the way, am I EVIL, or what? 


	4. Tempers and Tears

****

Tempers and Tears

Chapter 4

Heidi…_Heidi_! That bitch had obviously been working on Harry! And the spineless prat had fallen for her cheap charms too!

Harry yelped as Ginny's palm connected with his cheek, and tumbled out of the bed.

Ginny stormed out of the sleeping quarters and grabbed a fistful of Doc's uniform when she encountered him in the bridge. "Where is Heidi?"

Doc's goblinesque eyes widened with fear, as he took in Ginny's maddened expression. "The lower deck…She went to the lower deck. What—?" Doc began, but Ginny didn't hear the rest of it, because she'd jumped onto the closest levitation disc. 

Ginny saw Heidi walk down the loading ramp. To her dismay, she noticed that Heidi too had cut her hair, in a very similar style to her own. She must have heard about Ginny's new style and decided to copy it in an attempt to seduce Harry again. That Austrian slut — _that relationship wrecker_! she thought, trembling with rage. Her mind was set on a single thought. Make the bitch pay, scratch her eyes out! Ginny leapt at Heidi with a roar, tackling her! It was the best she could do, since her dress was in the way. If that hadn't been the case, she would've attacked with a leaping kick.

__

Heidi! So Potter was partial to redheads, was he? Well, soon Heidi wouldn't have any hair left on her head. The enraged Weasley grabbed a handful of Heidi's hair and yanked.

Heidi shrieked in pain, twisted around and retaliated with a vicious slash of her perfectly manicured fingernails before she too grabbed a handful of Ginny's hair and pulled, causing them to roll down the ramp.

Ginny was dimly aware of a voice shouting — "Cat fight!" — but she paid it no heed, instead choosing to put her own nails to work on Heidi's face. She'd show this slut whom Harry's heart belonged to, and then she'd go to Harry and rip it out of his chest! Just then, Heidi heaved and threw Ginny off, and Ginny landed painfully on her behind, a little beyond the ramp, knocking the wind out of her. That notwithstanding, she drew her legs under her and prepared to launch herself at Heidi once more.

"What—" Heidi began, but Ginny's lunge forced her to dodge. She did so with more agility than Ginny would have expected from a pampered bitch. Her dress was hampering her movement too, so she ripped it along her legs to give her more freedom of movement, while Heidi was asking her what the hell was wrong with her. Of course, Ginny wouldn't dignify that with an answer. Instead, she drew her wand, and Heidi did the same. Now they would fight in earnest.

"What the hell is going on here!" a voice thundered, cutting through marrow and bone, snapping Ginny out of her vengeful trance and causing her to freeze in place. "This is a disgrace, an outrage!" It was Wolfe, who was alternating his glare between her, Heidi, and the group of Rangers who'd begun cheering the girls on when the fighting started. "Why didn't you stop this?" he asked, fixing his glare on Matt Kelly, whose tanned skin drained of all colour in a second. Then Wolfe looked at Ginny and Heidi. "And you two! What in the bloody blazes did you think you were doing?" He fixed his gaze on Heidi. "Well? What happened?"

"How should I know!" Heidi yelled, pushing a handkerchief against the gashes in her cheeks while she pocketed her wand. "She just attacked me! She's rabid…Look, she's foaming at the mouth!"

"You used Harry's time with you to steal him from me!" Ginny screamed. "You even went so far as to cut your hair like I did. Draw your wand again and we'll settle this properly, you ten-Sickle whore!"

"I don't know what you're talking about!" Heidi said indignantly.

"Heidi…" Harry hurried down the ramp. "Oh, God…what happened to you? Are you okay?"

Ginny's anger was replaced by grief. Harry hadn't even seen her. He'd walked straight up to Heidi, worried and concerned - Heidi Gravenstein and not Ginny Weasley. He had chosen Heidi!

Tears blurred her vision. That was it, then. It was over! She whipped around and blindly ran towards a side chamber of the maintenance bay, away from Harry, away from her broken heart, away from rejection. She needed to get away.

The Portkeys! She needed to get to the Portkeys in order to go away. She knew where they were kept - Gudrun had shown her how to charm them.

She knocked two people aside as she stormed along the corridor.

She took a flight of stairs down towards the vaults. The Portkeys were all kept in a storage room not to far from the vaults. She had clearance to use the less powerful Portkeys. She could make her journey in several legs.

Ginny stopped and looked around, wiping the tears out of her eyes. Blinded by them, she must have taken a wrong turn somewhere and walked into the vaults instead of the storage areas. But she'd never been in this part of the Citadel before. Not that these particular vaults had been off limits, but she just didn't have any business there. A lot of strange artefacts were kept there, most of which were considered harmless and devoid of any real value.

She took a couple of deep breaths in an effort to calm herself down, forcing herself to think despite her hurt. It worked insofar as her anger slowly faded away, and she aimlessly wandered through the large room until a flash of red hair revealed another woman appearing in a doorway. Her anger returned with a vengeance as she recognised her. "What are you doing here, Heidi?" Ginny screamed. "Did you come to gloat?"

Heidi didn't respond. She just glared at Ginny the same way Ginny glared at her, so Ginny started towards her, drawing her wand and Heidi mirrored the move, literally. Ginny wiped the never ceasing stream of tears out of her eyes once again as she tried to clear her vision. It then dawned on Ginny that the doorway hadn't been a doorway, and that Heidi wasn't Heidi. It was a mirror image of her!

The realisation hit her like a splash of freezing water. As far as looks were concerned, she and Heidi could have been sisters. Twins was a bit too extreme, but certainly sisters who resembled each other a lot. But where did that leave her with Harry? Why did Harry proclaim his love, only to do this to her? Why the sudden change of heart?

"_Ah, but is it so sudden_?" a voice at the back of her mind asked. Suddenly Ginny remembered details from the dates that she and Harry had been on. Details that had slipped her mind entirely, because at the time she'd been too busy celebrating her reunion with Harry. But now she remembered them all, the awkward silences when they ran out of things to talk about, and the misunderstood cues.

In their two years of separation, Harry had changed. They had been best friends in her fifth and sixth year at Hogwarts, and she had got to know all his likes and dislikes, his hopes and dreams. But things had changed since then.

She remembered her wedding day, how Harry had shown up in his shining armour and saved the day, how he told her that he loved her. Ginny sank to the floor and buried her face in her hands. Maybe Harry had thought he had meant it, but there was no way of knowing for sure. Either way, it was now obvious that he didn't feel about her that way anymore. She had been outclassed. It had taken him a little over a month to forget about her. The attraction to his first girl had proven to be too big a challenge for their relationship.

She stifled the sobs that tried to escape from her throat and wiped at the relentless torrent of tears. Her eyes widened as she saw another person in the mirror, and she turned to face him, only to see the cluttered room behind her. Again she looked into the mirror, and he was still there…Harry. He knelt down beside her, resting his hands on her shoulders — she could feel his phantom lips on her face as he kissed her on the cheek and mouthed the words that had brought her so much happiness at their reunion. But he wasn't really there; she couldn't really hear the words. The mirror had to be special somehow.

She looked at the top of the mirror and read the inscription: _Erised stra ehru oyt ube cafru oyt on woshi. _ Ron had told her about encountering the mirror at Hogwarts in his first year. Dumbledore had kept the Philosopher's Stone safe by using this mirror. She remembered Hermione wondering what became of it. It had been in the Citadel of Illumination all along. 

Looking down into the mirror, she saw Harry's reflection, kneeling beside her, still talking to her, whispering the painful words in her ear. _I love you._ But her picture self was beaming with delight. Being loved by Harry…her deepest and most desperate desire. The fact that she was seeing this meant that she didn't have his love. 

He had never really told her that he loved her during their dates. He had always seemed a bit distant and reserved, but at the time she thought it had been her imagination. Had he been having second thoughts about them already? Had he noticed that she couldn't match Heidi's charm and sophistication?

According to Hermione, Heidi had only been Harry's immature attempt at replacement. But when Ginny had tried to touch on the subject during one of their dates, Harry's answers had been very evasive. Maybe he had decided that he liked the replacement better.

And in the mirror, Harry continued to run his fingers through her red hair…_her red hair_! That hateful red hair that fascinated him so much. She surged to her feet and grabbed a dusty old crystal ball that was lying nearby. She threw the heavy object into the mirror, which shattered into hundreds of shards. She sat down, picked one of those razor sharp shards up and used it to begin slicing away locks of her hair. Her trembling hands were making the task all but impossible, and she cut into her fingers on several occasions. The shard also slipped a few times, which made it scrape off hair at the scalp, leaving behind dully-throbbing gashes.

Then Ginny threw the elongated shard down in favour of a larger, square piece of the mirror, to admire her handiwork. She looked like death, with red and swollen eyes and some tufts of hair sticking out of her scalp. Blood from one of the cuts in her scalp came running down the side of her face.

"Ginny, what's wrong?" The clattering of footsteps on the stone floor heralded her brother's arrival. "We've been looking all over for you. Why did you come in here? Ginny, good Lord what happened to your face? What happened to your hair? Why are you crying?" Ron asked, dropping to his knees beside her. "Did you crash into the mirror?"

Ginny looked into her brother's worried eyes, unable to put her thoughts into words. Harry didn't love her. He loved Heidi. But she couldn't even begin to utter words, much less form sentences. Instead, she just sobbed into Ron's chest.

*

Not knowing what else to do, Ron just held his baby sister as questions swarmed through his head. He was terrified by the look of intense sadness in her eyes. Her eyes had seemed dull and empty. He'd only seen that look a few times before, at their father's and brother Fred's deaths. It was as if she'd lost someone. Then there was her hair, most of it lying on the floor around her, as if the hairdresser's apprentice from hell had been allowed to have a go at her. 

Ron's heart ceased beating when that thought crossed his mind. Harry! "Ginny, is it Harry? Has something happened to him? What's happened to him?" Only Harry could drive his sister to do something like this. 

"Ron? What's wrong with Ginny?" Hermione asked, coming up behind him. "Oh my God…Ginny!" she gasped, planting herself next to Ron and Ginny and immediately beginning to look at Ginny's wounds.

"I don't know!" Ron said helplessly, as his girlfriend checked his sister. "Where's Harry?"

"Disembarking from the Cruiser, I imagine," Hermione answered. "Why? Should I go get him?"

"So he's okay!" Ron said, relieved.

"Why would anything be wrong? If something had happened to him, we would've heard about it much sooner." 

"Harry…He doesn't…Harry and Heidi!" Ginny wailed.

"Ginny, what are you babbling about? What about Harry and Heidi…" Something clicked in his mind. Harry and Heidi…_together_? That wasn't possible. Harry loved Ginny…Or had Ginny caught them red-handed after she'd hurried onto the Cruiser after he and Hermione had walked into the corridor for a snog?

"Ginny!" Ron began seriously. "What happened?"

Ginny stammered out parts of sentences between gasping breaths. "I…He called…I kissed h-him…And h-he smiled and c-called me Heidi…" She began to cry uncontrollably again.

"Oh, dear!" Hermione mumbled behind him.

A surprising coolness swept over Ron, and he guided his distraught sister to Hermione. "Hold her. I'm going to have a _little chat_ with Harry!" He knew Harry was too powerful to hurt, but Ron was sure going to give it his best shot. Harry had hurt his baby sister…He had led her on for years before crushing her heart, and she obviously mutilated herself out of grief. He was going to pay for that.

He was dimly aware of Hermione's protests as he stomped through the corridor, back towards the hangar and maintenance bay. Harry saved him the trouble of walking all the way back, because that no good playboy had the nerve to show his face. And that bitch, Heidi, was right beside him. Wolfe and Matt Kelly hovered a few paces behind them, but Ron didn't pay any attention to them. Instead, he swung at Harry with all his might.

Harry ducked and Ron's fist connected with Heidi's face instead, putting her lights out. This startled Ron, for even though he was mad at her too, he could never hit a woman, except for Millicent Bulstrode maybe, but she didn't look like one.

"Ron, I don't know what got into Ginny, and I don't know what she told you, but she's mistaken!" Harry said quickly, using Ron's brief hesitation after hitting Heidi by accident.

"Tell that to my fist! Do you know what Ginny's done to herself because of you? Do you?" Ron growled, as he prepared to take a swing at Harry again.

"Ranger Weasley!" Wolfe roared, causing Ron to freeze in mid-motion. "I can only read your surface thoughts, so I don't know exactly what your sister told you. But I'm guessing she thinks that Harry cheated on her with Heidi?"

"It's true!" Ron growled. "Why else would he call her Heidi after she kissed him? It's obvious that he and Heidi have been…"

"That's plainly not possible," Wolfe interrupted. "Harry didn't spend enough time with Heidi to do such a thing, and if he had, I would have noticed and kicked his butt myself." He looked at Harry. "Why _did_ you call her Heidi, though?"

"Well, I thought it was Heidi," Harry explained. "She was supposed to wake me up upon arrival. She had Heidi's haircut, and she smelled like Heidi too." Harry frowned. "I reckon they use the same bath foam."

Ron was not convinced. "Yeah, but Ginny said you smiled when you said Heidi. Why would Heidi be _kissing_ you? And why would you know Heidi's scent like that?"

Harry blushed. "The lips were familiar and they felt nice, so yeah, I-I smiled. And…Well, Heidi and I used to be…She was my first, after all. You never really forget your first, Ron. You wouldn't know that, since the only woman you've ever been with is Hermione."

Ron glanced at Wolfe. "Is that true?"

Wolfe shrugged. "How should I know? I've only ever been with one woman too."

"Not that. I mean if he's telling the truth. You're a Mind Reader!"

"Oh, yeah. He was telling the truth." Wolfe nodded. "And even if I hadn't been a Mind Reader, like I said, Harry spent most of his time with me on our mission. He never had the time."

"And that bit about someone's first is also true," Matt Kelly, who was bending over Heidi's unconscious form, said.

Ron felt his face heat up. "Oh, Harry…Sorry mate…I…"

"You were just defending your little sister's honour."

"Yeah, but I shouldn't have jumped to conclusions that quickly. You'd think that I would have learned something during my time here. I'm just as hot-headed as I used to be."

"Not really," Wolfe said. "I can imagine what it must feel like. If your brother even hurts my sister by cheating on her, I'll break his neck! Same goes for you if you ever hurt Hermione."

Ron swallowed away his discomfort. "Err, yeah."

"Don't worry, man. I know you'll never hurt my adopted little sister! It was just a reminder. Oh, about your brother. When is he coming to Concordia?"

Technically, Charlie would have had to wait for a whole year before being cleared to live in Concordia. But Commander Ironheart had pulled some strings to shorten the waiting period. "Late January. He's already found a job at the Concordian Magi-zoology Institute."

"Good."

Ron nodded and turned back to Harry. "You'll have to talk to Ginny now. But, I think I should warn you…she took it very hard. I think she's cut her hair with shards from a broken mirror. She cut her scalp…she's a mess Harry."

Wolfe groaned. "Mirror? The only mirror in there in the Mirror of Erised. She trashed the Mirror of Erised?"

"My sister's been cutting herself and you only care about that bloody mirror?"

"You're right…Sorry." Wolfe frowned. "I reckon Ginny's terribly upset, right?"

Harry blanched. "R-right…upset! I'd feel better if someone takes away her wand and takes care of all the _sharp_ objects in there… like the mirror shards."

Wolfe smirked. "Afraid that you'll meet Malfoy's fate?"

"Will you come with me?" Harry asked Wolfe, looking at him hopefully.

"No, you just have to be alert and take your chances with Ginny's temper. What kind of relationship would you have in the future, if you can't face her in times of conflict? Don't worry. You're the most powerful wizard in the world." 

"Yeah, but Ginny won't care about that," Ron pointed out. "I'd feel better if you were right outside. Ginny will be very hard to convince. But you're a Mind Reader, and she trusts you. Maybe she'll listen if you tell her."

Wolfe frowned. "If she doesn't take Harry's word for it, their reconciliation won't be worth a damn. This is a matter of her trusting _Harry_, not me. But I'll wait right outside, if it'll make you feel better." 

Ron nodded gratefully, and waited for Harry to gather his courage. Then they made their way down the corridor, with Wolfe accompanying them. Matt had taken Heidi to the medical wing to be patched up. Ron was relieved to have Heidi out of the way for a while, since there was no telling how Ginny would react at the sight of her.

They reached the storage room where Hermione and Ginny were, and he could hear Ginny's sobs and Hermione's comforting words.

Harry glanced at Wolfe, who gave him an encouraging nod, and then at Ron, who wasn't quite as calm as Wolfe was. Maybe he should let Wolfe go in first to defuse the situation—no, Wolfe was right, Harry had to do this. Ron gave Harry a look that said that the moment was at hand.

Harry cleared his throat before speaking. "Ginny?"

The sobbing stopped, and Harry pushed the door open.

*

There he was, the _traitor_, the _liar_!

"Ginny…Ginny, it was all a mistake!" Ginny heard Harry's words, but they sounded empty, like Cornelius Fudge's. "Heidi was supposed to wake me up, and I thought you were her!"

"Don't lie to me, Harry," she said weakly. 

"Ginny, I'm not lying—" 

"Be quiet. Do you think I'm stupid?" she asked, her anger flaring up once again. "So you thought I was Heidi, did you? Why would Heidi kiss you in the first place?" Ginny said, barely holding her anger in check. "Just admit it. You still love Heidi."

"That's not true!" The look on his face was so genuine. He was a much better liar than she'd thought. No wonder he'd managed to convince Ron. But Gudrun had often told her that men, delightful companions as they were, could not be trusted to be faithful. Now Ginny saw what her friend had meant. Gudrun had wanted to protect her from getting hurt all along.

"_Don't lie to me_!" Ginny growled. "Heidi was on her way out of the Cruiser when I caught up with her! Didn't she have to wake you up first? Can't explain that, can you?"

Harry opened and closed his mouth, unable to find an answer and confirming his guilt.

"Of course not, because she wasn't supposed to wake you. You made that up."

"Ginny—" Ron said, but Ginny's angry glance silenced him.

"Don't you dare cover up for him! You men always cover for each other!"

"Why would I do that? I'm your brother."

"But you're also his best friend!"

"Ginny, your happiness will always come first for me! Besides, Harry and Wolfe were out in the field too often for something to have happened between Harry and Heidi. Don't you think the others would have noticed?"

"I'm not saying they…" — Ginny shivered at the thought — "but he certainly cheated on me! He only would have needed a couple of seconds."

"Ginny!" Hermione said sternly. "Why won't you listen?"

"You're taking his side now?" Ginny asked incredulously. How could Hermione do this to her? Hermione, of all people, should be able to see what was going on.

"Ginny, you're being an ass, just like I used to be," Ron said, shaking his head. "Don't let your anger and jealousy blind you."

"Blind me?" Ginny said sharply. "Things have never been more clear to me! Why can't you all see that?"

"Ginny, that's not true," Harry said, straining his voice.

The prat was trying to soften her with the sad look in his eyes. Well, she wouldn't be fooled this time. She glared at Harry. "If Heidi wants you, she can have you! I hope you two are very happy together!"

"For the last time"—Harry's eyes flashed as an edge crept into his voice—"There's nothing going on between me and Heidi. You're being ridiculous!"

"Ridiculous, am I?"

"Yes, and crazy too! You're throwing a temper tantrum, just like a little girl! What did you do to your hair?" He shook his head. "Get cleaned up and we'll talk about this like adults. And you'd better have a good apology ready for Heidi."

Ginny's lips began to quiver and she began to sob, her anger once again replaced by grief. She'd lost him for good. He clearly thought she was a little girl, but he obviously wanted a woman. "Apology for Heidi? She cut her hair just like mine, to seduce you…Ugh, I don't know why I'm even talking to you anymore." Good little Ginny had always listened — well no more! "Get out of my sight! I never want to see you again!" she said, doing her best to inject as much venom as possible into her voice. 

Harry staggered back, as if he'd been physically struck by her words. He backed towards the door, but Wolfe, who must have been right outside, blocked him and pushed him back in. 

"You can't walk away from this—" His words got caught in his throat as Harry looked him in the eye. Then he took a few steps back, and brought a pair of trembling hands to his head. Blood began to drip out of his nose, and he collapsed.

Then, like a zombie, Harry walked out of the room.

"Wolfe!" Ron screamed, rushing over to the tall Ranger.

Nosebleeds were a bad sign, and despite the pain she was feeling about having been replaced by Heidi, she jumped in to help Wolfe too. "Wolfe…look at me!"

His dazed gaze met hers, and his eyes widened. He shoved her away and screamed at the top of his lungs. It was more of a mixture between a scream and a wail, really, and it made Ginny's skin crawl. Tears were gushing out of his eyes. It lasted for several minutes, Hermione and Ron frantically trying to calm him down.

"Max? Please tell me what's wrong."

"No more," Wolfe sobbed. "Great Maker, what pain!"

"Where does it hurt?"

"Ginny!" Wolfe sobbed. "I saw some memories." He looked up at Ginny. "I had no idea how much this hurt you. But Harry loves you, he wouldn't do this to you, I was with him! How can you think those things? Why can't you see that he loves you like no other? 

Wolfe took a deep breath to help him calm down. "He made an honest mistake when he called you Heidi. You both cut your hair in very similar styles, and he said you smelled the same. Believe me, I could mistake you for Heidi too, and I'm not just saying that."

Ginny bit her lip and looked at the floor. He was right —all of them were right. Even she had mistaken herself for Heidi when tears had blurred her sight. And she'd taken a bath with Heidi's foam…

"He'd never lie to you," Ron said. "What were you thinking, Ginny? This is Harry we're talking about. He's far from perfect, but betrayal isn't part of his vocabulary. Ginny, don't tell me you haven't noticed the look in his eyes every time you smile at him. Haven't you felt what happens when he kisses you?"

"How could you do that to him?" Wolfe continued. "The first time you did that to him was worse than anything Voldemort had done to him. It nearly made him end his own life. How could you say that to him _again_? I've seen your thoughts too, and I know how powerful your feelings for him are. I know how love can turn into jealousy. But what you said to him… _Get out of my sight_…_I_ _never want to see you again!_"

The bottom dropped out of Ginny's stomach as Wolfe told her what her careless words had done to Harry. Why hadn't she just believed Harry? How could she have been such an insufferable bitch? Why hadn't her mother just strangled her in the cradle? She was worse than Malfoy! Why would _anyone_ want to love her? "I have to go after him!" Ginny said, hoping with all her heart that she'd still be able to fix things with Harry.

"Ginny, you can't go after him looking like that!"

"I don't care!" Ginny said, her looks being the least of her concerns now.

She ran out of the room, up the stairs and down the corridor, back towards the maintenance bay.

She encountered a huge commotion when she arrived. Matt Kelly, Captain Yee, the Chief Artificer, and Tarana Oliseh, a Fourth Class Ranger Artificer from Nigeria, were standing at the edge of the huge passageway that lead to the outside, the one used by Cruisers to enter and exit the bay. They were looking down with stricken expressions on their faces. Ethan Johnson was shouting for a Medical Ranger and an emergency Portkey.

Ginny made her way up the shallow incline that led to the edge, but Matt Kelly spotted her and stopped her. "Ginny…what happened to you?" he asked, taking in her horrible looking head. "Ginny, you'd better not—"

"What's going on?" she demanded.

Matt seemed extremely alarmed too, and he was looking very pale. "Harry came in here…Told Ethan something about getting fresh air. He didn't look too good, he looked like he was going to be sick…He looked angry and upset." Matt swallowed. "But the _Zephyrus_ was just taking off for a shakedown cruise. Harry wasn't paying attention, it clipped him on the way out! He fell down. We don't know if he's alive…"

*

The shriek that came echoing into the stockroom would have put a banshee to shame. It was ear-splitting and made Hermione's blood run cold.

"What's that?" Max asked, slowly getting up. It couldn't have been an easy task, since his knees were still shaking.

"I don't know, but I reckon we ought to find out," Ron said, lifting Max's arm and sliding his shoulder under it to support him.

Max tried to get loose as he protested. "I can stand on my own."

"I don't think so, Max." The pale coloration of his face told Hermione that he was far from okay. "If you don't stop struggling, I'll stun you and levitate you."

Max ceased his efforts, and they slowly made their way towards the large maintenance and hangar bay with Ron supporting him.

"Damn, Wolfe, you weigh a bloody tonne," Ron muttered. "We should've stunned you and levitated you."

"Quit complaining, sissy. I only weigh two hundred and ten pounds. You ought to try and carry Nathan Kelly, or his girl."

Hermione smiled. Helga was quarter-giant and seven-foot-six. Not nearly as big as Madame Maxime, but still a lot of woman. "You're no featherweight either, Ron, so stop complaining."

"Yeah, I would've carried you with little trouble if the situation were reversed."

"You're not a normal person, Wolfe. What kind of a maniac trains under increased gravity?" Ron sighed.

"I should kick your butt for that, but my headache won't let me," Max replied. "And I have too much on my mind to give you my undivided attention anyway. Hermione?"

Hermione, who'd been leading, slowed down to allow Ron and Max to overtake her. "Yes?"

"I'm worried about Ginny. I didn't know she was keeping so many things bottled up. It seems that she's just like Harry when it comes to that."

"She didn't tell me anything. I wish she had — I would've set her straight immediately."

"Well, it looks like we've persuaded her to give Harry the benefit of the doubt," Ron said.

Wolfe nodded. "But you were right, Ron. I guess I should have gone in with you and Harry. I could have prevented that argument between Harry and Ginny, and a lot of grief. Funny, how the two of them can hurt each other that much."

"Not really," Ron said. "After all, only those you love can truly hurt you, right? And Harry and Ginny love each other very much, even if they're both bloody bonkers!"

Wolfe and Hermione looked at each other — then at Ron. "When did you turn into Doctor Love?" Wolfe asked.

"Just common sense," Ron blushed. "Anyway, maybe you should've come in with us, but maybe it wouldn't have helped either. No use talking about it now, though."

"Hold on, what _are_ you two talking about?"

Ron told Hermione about his theory that Ginny would have believed Wolfe more quickly than she believed Harry, because of Wolfe's gift.

"I think it would have made a difference," Wolfe said. "But I didn't want to do it because it wouldn't have done anything for their relationship in the long run. In retrospect, I should have—"

"Hindsight is always twenty-twenty," Ron and Hermione said in unison.

This prompted a smile from Max. "You two share a home _and_ a brain?"

Hermione felt her face heat up. "I'd rather refer to it as great minds thinking alike."

"I guess," Wolfe said. "If so, can the great minds answer me this question?"

"Ask away," Hermione said.

"Well, I was just coming into the bay on the far side when Heidi and Ginny were fighting, and I saw them rolling on the ground. I don't get it…They've both been taught to fight properly, yet they were fighting like, well, _girls_…Scratching and pulling hair."

"Good one!" Ron nodded, and smirked at Hermione. "Well?"

Hermione shrugged. "When men enter the equation of our lives, we women sometimes turn into complete idiots over those men. Of course, as you boys know, the reverse is also true for men fighting over women."

They finally reached the cavernous bay and encountered the consternation. Matt Kelly was restraining a wailing Ginny with great difficulty, while she tried to in the direction of the Cruiser gate.

Hermione noticed a bunch of people standing at the edge of the Cruiser gate. Captain Yee and Tarana Oliseh, both Artificer Rangers, Ethan Johnson from Intel Field Ops, Commander Nomvete, and Heidi, who was kneeling and trying her best not to faint on the spot.

Suddenly, that all-too-familiar feeling of dread took over her insides.

Ron released Max and ran over to his sister. "Ginny?"

Hermione's legs carried her to the edge of the ramp, where the other Rangers were looking down. She stood next to Commander Nomvete and looked down too. Two hundred and fifty feet down, she saw a grounded Cruiser. Lieutenant Montoya pulled a sheet over something. The sheet was rapidly staining with blood.

Cirilo Roverano, also an Artificer Ranger, was sitting on a rock, hands covering his face, his shaking shoulders suggesting that he was crying.

Montoya looked up and shook his head. A collective gasp escaped from the throats of the gathered Rangers, and Heidi whimpered, "_Nein, das ist nicht möglich_…Harry!" 

Hermione didn't have to understand German to put the facts together. "Haaaryyyy!" she screamed. This couldn't be happening. How could this have happened? Did he jump off?

A hand settled on her shoulder. "I am sorry!"

Hermione looked into Commander Nomvete's wrinkly face. "Did he jump?"

"It-it was an accident," another person said. Ethan Johnson was sitting on the ramp, with his legs drawn up and his arm encircling them. "I'm not sure…He came out of the storage corridor and said something about having to get some fresh air. But the_ Zephyrus _was just taking off…I saw Cirilo try to evade Harry, but the tip of the wing still hit his shoulder. He just fell…" Johnson's throat seized up.

"Johnson called us first, and then he called for help," Captain Yee said, picking up where Johnson had stopped. "Eduardo got here two minutes ago. I'm sorry for your loss…I-"

"He can't be dead!" Hermione screamed. "Harry can survive much worse things that that! He got smashed by a huge rock and he survived…He's still alive…Get Ginny down there, she'll bring him back! Please, you have to listen…"

"I know about the fight with the Speculum Demon, and how Ginny brought him back from the brink," Nomvete said sadly. "I'm sorry, I'm afraid it is too late now. Harry is already dead."

"That can't be true. He's a wizard. He should have bounced…he could have cast a levitation charm. He…This can't be true. He was too powerful to die like this. He can't be dead, his magic would have saved him…"

"Unless…Unless he didn't want to live."

Hermione whipped around and looked into Wolfe's dark eyes. "Don't talk like that. Harry can't…H-he just can't be dead." She clenched her fists. He couldn't have died… Not like this!

"A wizard's magic will only save him if the wizard wants to live. You know that, Hermione! Ginny's words crushed him…"

Ron, who had been standing next to Wolfe, whipped around and stomped back to his crying sister. "Are you happy now!" he screamed. "You killed him! This is all your fault—" 

"Ron, that's not true…you're not helping!" Wolfe said, as he walked over to Ron and laid a hand on his shoulder.

But Ron just shrugged off Wolfe's hand. "You drove him to his death, Ginny." The Rangers turned to watch his tirade. "You did what the darkest wizards failed to do. Your jealousy killed him! Is that what you wanted? Is it?"

Ginny was sitting on the floor, her eyes devoid of all emotion, with no indication that he had heard any of it. She just sat there, drawing shuddering breaths.

"Ginny…No!" Wolfe groaned, clutching his head once more. "He didn't mean it...Don't! The meaning of his words became clear moments later, as Ginny shot up and began to sprint towards the gate.

She jumped.

*** 

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A/N: The evilness intensifies. Now you must be thinking: "Harry is supposedly dead…been there…done that…bought the T-shirt." 

I'd just like to point out that in Existence after Life, Harry didn't die. There wasn't a body! But now, his corpse is lying at the base of the cliff. 

I know that there is no story without Harry, so I might as well admit that he'll be coming back. I'm not going to tell you how, of course. But I will do something else.

Hereby I issue a challenge. Review, and speculate in your review how you believe I'll bring Harry back. He or she who comes closest to the truth will get to read the next few chapters early, as a prize. (Be sure to leave your e-mail so I can send it to you, in case you turn out to be the winner)

And now to answer the reviews:

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KaYos: Well, you've seen her reaction. As for the length of this story…I think closer to twenty than thirty chapters. 

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VaderDWP: Glad you like the ending. How did you like this one? I'm sorry you felt teased with the little fight between Wolfe and Harry. Unfortunately, as you can see, there will be no second battle between them. 

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Honey666: If you thought the cliffie of chapter 3 was evil… Oh, from now on, I'll update in the middle of the week, Tuesday or Wednesday. 

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Gogirl: You said: "If you break up H/G, even for a few chapters, you'll be hearing from me!" * brace myself for howler. *** **

Clifjumpr13: As you've seen, sometimes words can do much more harm than physical violence.

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Casual Reader: Most of the info about Japanese clothing came from my beta, Christine. Without her, this story wouldn't be half as good as it is now. 

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Sorensen: Yep, there's still that Japanese mystery to solve.

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SiriDragon: Bad? As you've just read, things have gotten much worse!

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nycgal: The characters will appear in chapter 7 or 8.

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mithy: Evil? Moi? You haven't seen anything yet! 

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bubblez fairy: Well, what did you think of Ginny's reaction?

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JF: Is it a given that Harry and Ginny will sort this out? You think so? * evil grin * Oh, and little old me, equal to or better than ruskbyte? No way! LOL, and the numbers disagree with you too. But my ego is flattered that you think so. 

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Ameera: always an honour to get a review from you. 

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Petals: I always update here first. Ff.net is always one or two chapters ahead of GT. LOL, you're not the only one who dislikes Heidi. But honestly, people, it isn't her fault! :-)

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Nosgoroth: I'm answering the reviewers again. Apologies for the long wait, again. As I've told you in the e-mail, it was beyond my control. But I know the frustration. 

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girl who is extremely angry at the interference of her brainchildren (a.k.a. girl jealous of Ginny): Sorry for disappointing you. :-) But there is such a thing called a 'plot!' which serves to improve a story. Also, lest we forget, this isn't a romance story. Oh, and you might want to get a shorter review name. ;-)

Furioh: Yeah, I aim to make my chapters longer than 4,500 words. That's the minimum. Otherwise it wouldn't be a real chapter, in my opinion.

pamela-potter-24: Dramatic, isn't it?

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teazer: Yes, I've been talking to ruskbyte. But this wasn't evilness. I'm just getting warmed up.

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LaminaCourt: Thank you for taking the time to read both my stories. Your praise is flattering and inspiring.

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mIles: Is Heidi going to play a bigger role? Interesting question. Truth be told, her role will remain fairly limited. But I may yet change my mind, since the plot can be changed.

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Blue Roses: I'll do my best to impress you.

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rowan: Yes, I _did_ just do that, and I'm only getting warmed up

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Lana Riddle: Well, Ginny _did_ slap him! ;-)

Ginny1946: This story almost better than the books? * blushes * Come on! You can't be serious. But my ego appreciates it.I hope this chapter answered your questions.


	5. The Illusions of Life and Death

****

The Illusions of Life and Death

Chapter 5

"Ginny!" Ron screamed. Despite Wolfe's warning, Ginny's move had still come unexpectedly. This couldn't be happening. He couldn't allow his little sister to die like that — and with that thought — he drew his wand faster than he'd ever managed before — faster than all the other Rangers had — as he rushed to the opening. "_Wingardium Leviosa_!" he shouted, hoping against hope that it would work at this range.

But to no avail, for his hands and voice were shaking. Neither the wand movement nor the incantation had been done properly. Horrified, Ron cursed his own incompetence and inability to save his sister, helplessly looking on as she fell down.

Then, inexplicably, she began to slow until she was drifting down like a feather. She collapsed onto the rocky bottom as she settled to earth.

"Brilliant long distance incantation," Matt Kelly said. "On a moving target, too."

"It wasn't me!" Ron muttered. It really hadn't been his doing. He knew for certain that his own charm had failed. "Must've been Lieutenant Montoya."

"It couldn't have been. I didn't see him perform any incantation, and he doesn't have the kind of power to do this by eye contact or gestures alone," Commander Nomvete said. Then she looked at Wolfe. "But _you_ do!"

"It wasn't me," Wolfe answered. "I could have done it, but not now,"—he wiped some blood still seeping from his nose away with his sleeve —"I have too much of a headache!"

"Then who?" Ron wondered. "Cirilo?" 

"Didn't even see your sister jump," Matt said, shaking his head. "Maybe it was Ginny's own magic."

"Why would that happen, if she'd been trying to commit suicide?" Wolfe frowned. "It doesn't make any sense."

"Maybe she changed her mind at the last instant," Hermione offered. "I bet she knows that Harry wouldn't have wanted her to end her own life like that."

That had to be it, then. "I guess you're right." Ron nodded. He looked on as Ginny crawled to Harry's body and pulled the bloody sheet off.

It was a mess. Even from his vantage point, Ron could see the blood oozing out of Harry's mouth and nose. His body was completely broken. But Ginny didn't care about the blood. She just cradled Harry's head and talked. 

Montoya, who had been trying to comfort Cirilo Roverano, walked over to Ginny and tried to pull her away from Harry's body. But she wouldn't budge, and drew her wand threateningly, causing Montoya to raise his hands and back off.

When Ginny turned her attention back to Harry, Montoya drew his wand and stunned her.

"Retrieve the body," Nomvete said sadly. "And someone fly the Cruiser back in here. I don't think Roverano can do it right now. I have to tell Irina to make sure that no one saw, or will remember this entrance to the Citadel." She turned and left.

"Captain Yee, we need another levitation disc to take us down and bring Ginny back up here." Wolfe said.

"I will go get one," the wispy-thin Chinese witch said. "I will fly the Cruiser back also."

"All right," —Wolfe looked around —"Ron, Hermione, are you two going down to get Harry? I know how much you're hurting right now. You've just lost a brother…If you're not up to it—"

"Yeah, I'll go!" Ron whispered, throwing his arm around Hermione, who was nodding silently too. "Are you sure?" he asked her, since she wasn't looking very well. From what he could tell, she wasn't far from shock. Maybe it would be better from someone else to go down with him, rather than risk Hermione falling apart while they were down there.

"Positive," Hermione answered, and the determination in her voice reassured Ron.

Ron, Hermione and Wolfe stepped onto a levitation disc that was being steered by Captain Yee. Then she took them down to where the body was lying.

Ron took a deep breath. Seeing Harry up close was going to be very hard, but it was something he had to do. Hermione seemed to know what he was thinking, and gripped his hand tighter. In contrast to his icy cold hands, hers were warm.

The warmth gave him strength to shoulder the burdens that were about to come, and clarity of thought despite the emotional anguish he was in. He'd have to write letters to his family, the only real family Harry had ever known. And he'd have to write to Professor Lupin and his brand new wife, Rosmerta. He'd have to prepare for the consequences of Harry's death becoming public. But worst of all, he had to do something about Ginny, who was obviously maddened by grief. Montoya must have stunned her for a reason, after all.

They reached their destination at the base of the cliff, and Montoya walked up to them. "Mr Weasley, Miss Granger…I'm sorry. He was gone when I got here. But at least he didn't suffer."

Ron clenched his fists. He didn't suffer? Of course he'd suffered. He'd got his heart torn out and thrown into his face. Ron slowly exhaled. It wasn't Lieutenant Montoya's fault, and even though he was angry at Ginny, he knew it wasn't her fault either. 

He guessed the saying was true. Fate really _was_ a cruel and fickle bitch. Harry had lived a charmed life in the face of danger, only to die in the most freakish of accidents. Perhaps that was how the balance was kept in the universe. It made him wonder how long he still had to live. After all, he'd enjoyed similar luck in his life, and that very same morning Hermione had consented to marry him. He wondered how much credit he had left at the universal bank of luck.

He and Hermione crouched down next to Harry's body. 

Hermione's hand trembled as she drew her wand. She closed her eyes and muttered a spell that caused a stream of water to shoot from her wand. The water washed over Harry's face and rinsed away most of the blood. Then she took a clean corner of the sheet and dried off his face. "Why did you have to leave us, Harry?" she sobbed quietly. "It won't be the same without you."

"I wanted you to be my Guardian," Ron said. "And Ginny was supposed to be Hermione's Maiden." He had to swallow away a lump in his throat before he could continue to speak. "Funny, how things turn out, don't they? There I was, thinking that we'd be playing chess together as old men, with our grandchildren playing at our feet. Silly, isn't it? I mean, Rangers often die in the line of duty. I always thought that — if one of us were to die — we'd die doing our duty and making a difference. I never thought it would end like this." He sniffed and wiped away the tears that were rolling down his cheeks. 

Then he forced his lips into a trembling smile. "I never told you this before…I thought it would be too mushy and all that. I guess Hermione was right, I'm too macho. I guess it's too late now, but I hope you can still hear me. I love you, mate. Just having you around made me and my family very happy." His throat completely closed up, and he couldn't talk anymore.

"I love you too, Harry," Hermione said quietly. "I owe you so much." She bent down and kissed his forehead. "We'll never forget you, and say hi to Mr Weasley, Fred, Sirius and the others, all right?"

"Goodbye, Harry! You wouldn't mind if we name our firstborn after you, would you?"

Hermione uttered what could be identified as a sobbing giggle. "Even if it's a girl?"

"Right, it could be a girl. Harriet? Sounds a bit lame, though. Maybe we should keep it as a middle name."

Someone cleared his throat behind them. It was Wolfe, his face a mask of control once more. If he was affected by Harry's tragic death, he certainly didn't show it. "We have to go back up." With a gesture, he magically pulled the sheet back over Harry's face. Then he levitated Harry onto the disc, leaving behind the drying blood at the base of the cliff.

"What was wrong with Ginny?" Ron asked, suddenly remembering that Lieutenant Montoya had stunned Ginny. "Why did Lieutenant Montoya stun her?"

"He told me that Ginny thought she'd heard Harry's voice. She thought he was still alive." He shook his head and looked up at the other levitation disc, that was taking Montoya, Roverano and the unconscious Ginny back into the Citadel. "This must be really hard on her" — Wolfe hesitated, unsure whether or not should continue —"and I fear for her life. She may not recover from this. Despite what you might think, given their final moments together, I believe Ginny and Harry were linked much more deeply than most couples are…Deeper than most couples _should_ be linked. Now that he's gone, there's a good chance that she will follow. And there is nothing any of us can do about it."

Ron fought the panic that was rising inside of him. He couldn't lose Ginny too, because that would kill his mum for sure. It would be a terrible blow to the family. He looked at Wolfe. "I assume the training mission I was supposed to go on will be scrapped?"

"Yeah. I think we're all going to get a break to mourn. You want to be with Ginny, to try to save her?"

"Harry wouldn't have wanted her to kill herself over him. Someone has to tell her that when she wakes up."

"Do you think your grandfather could arrange for the Weasleys to come to Concordia without having to wait six months first?" Hermione asked.

"He's not here," Wolfe said. "I've been told that there was something urgent in Libya that demanded his personal attention. But getting the Weasleys in won't be a problem. The Order of Illumination has an agreement with the Concordian Combine about allowing mourning relatives into the city."

Ron sighed. "I'd best get started writing letters."

"I'll help," Hermione offered.

"At least one of you should be with Ginny when she wakes up," Wolfe suggested. "She won't wake up for a while, though. She'll be asleep for the next four hours, Montoya has seen to it. Do you think you'll have all your letters done by then?"

Ron nodded. "Yeah. One letter should do it for my whole family. I'll send it to Bill, so he can break the news to Mum gently. I don't want Mum to get the letter while she's alone at the Burrow. Who knows what could happen?

"Percy will relay the news to the Ministry of Magic, and the only other person I have to send a letter to is Professor Lupin. He could tell Professor McGonagall and the Hogwarts staff."

"All right. But could you please put off sending the letters until Ginny wakes up?"

"Why?" 

"Even though this is clearly an accident, we still have to investigate," Wolfe said. "A formal report has to be written. I don't see the sense either," Wolfe said quickly, seeing the sour look Ron was giving him, "but it has to be done."

The Cruiser hummed to life and began to ascend.

"We really have to go back up now."

They stepped onto the disc and it carried them up and back into the Citadel.

"You two try to get some rest," Wolfe said. "I'll take Harry's remains to the morgue. Hopefully, I'll see you in four hours. Everything should be fixed by then."

"It's really sweet of him to do all this," Hermione said, sliding her arms around Ron's waist and resting her head against his chest. "He wants to save us the grief."

Ron nodded. "But he hardly seems affected by any of this. How does he do it? How can he remain so cool?"

"That's just part of his nature. Some things never change," Hermione answered as he backed away a step and took his hand. "Come on, we have a lot to do."

Ron nodded again. "I wish I didn't have to. This is hard enough as it is. What am I going to write?"

"We'll work something out together, Ron," she said, standing on her toes.

He bent down and kissed her on the lips, realising just how lucky he was to have her, as his lips touched hers. Despite her sometimes cold and analytical attitude, she managed to be very warm and comforting when he needed her to be. She was his rock!

*

Draco swallowed and took a few deep breaths in an effort to calm down. He nervously checked the state of his robes, the nicest set. After all, most of his current companions had little use for cleanliness, let alone fashion.

He hated having to spend most of his time underground with the scum of the Earth surrounding him, and making jokes about his condition. Draco trembled with fury as he remembered. He would get the Weasleys for that. He would make them pay! 

After casting one last glance in the mirror, he left his cramped room and headed deeper underground, towards the large golden doors behind which She resided. Having proven his worth by quickly establishing a new network of spies in the British Isles, Draco had quickly risen through the ranks. He was now second in command of the all wizards in Anastasiou's organisation, and he only answered to Anastasiou, Von Brandenburg and Paula Rheinhart.

He had no idea why the Mistress had sent for him. Even though She was considered to be the maximum authority in the organisation, it was Anastasiou who ran things. Apparently, the day-to-day goings on were beneath Her.

He reached Her chamber, and the Dark Trolls parted to allow him to enter. The doors opened by themselves, giving him his first glimpse of the inside of the chamber. It was huge, and decorated with all sorts of fine art and furniture. Draco wasn't sure whether the room's proportions were natural or magically enhanced, but he was leaning towards the latter.

The door closed behind him, trapping him inside the room. He searched for his superiors, but he couldn't find them. A feeling of unease settled over him. Why was he here?

The sound of someone moving in water caught his attention. He saw the bath, not unlike the one in the Prefect's bathroom at Hogwarts, only bigger and much more luxurious. She was doing the backstroke, and Draco got an eyeful of her charms as they broke through the surface of the water. He had never seen her before, only heard tales about her beauty. Even those stories didn't do her justice however, and she certainly would have evoked a physical reaction from him, had he still possessed that particular part of his anatomy. They hadn't been able to restore it, and again his anger surged as he silently vowed to get his revenge on the Weasleys.

"Right on time, Mr Malfoy," she said, climbing out of her bath and revealing herself to him in all her glory. She was simply perfect, like a Veela. "Do you like what you see?"

Malfoy quickly averted her eyes and got down on one knee. "I-I apologise, but I just wasn't ready for such a vision of b-beauty," he stammered. He immediately berated himself for his answer, but to his relief she found it amusing. Her melodious and hypnotic laughter rang through the chamber.

"A very bold and true answer, Mr Malfoy…May I call you Draco?"

"Of course, my Lady."

"I am well aware of my beauty," she continued. "I acquired it when I attempted to take a Veela's immortality, not that I was considered ugly before that. But it failed, for I ended up with all the Veela powers, except immortality. It greatly extended my lifespan, though. I kept looking for means to gain immortality, but I kept finding means of extending life. I realised that only spirit beings, like Veela and Tengu, were unaffected by the passage of time and that their immortality could not be taken from them. I gave up on the quest for true immortality." She gestured, and a large towel floated over to her. She began to dry herself off. "I take it you must be wondering why you are here?" 

Draco nodded mutely.

"Because I require your assistance. Athanasios Anastasiou is very capable, but not very trustworthy. Am I right to assume that he is very disappointed with me?"

"Uh, well—"

"Do not fear for reprisals. What we discuss now will not leave this room. I can also assure you that he is not listening in."

Draco had no choice but to trust Her, and his instincts. "Yes, he is disappointed, my Lady."

"He expected me to use my powers on the battlefield, like a foot-soldier, didn't he?"

"More like a doomsday weapon, my Lady."

"How I detest violence." She yawned, strolling over to her huge bed and sliding onto the satiny sheets. She still wasn't wearing anything. "I only fight to protect myself and my interests. Trying to build an empire in the classical sense is impossible. Many Muggles have tried, but in the end the others banded against them to defeat the common enemy.

"Only my body was trapped in that crystal, but my mind was not. It could project my essence anywhere I wanted, and see empires rise and fall."

Draco listened patiently, waiting for her to get to the point.

"Of course, I still haven't told you what I need you for, did I?"

Draco shook his head.

"I need you to be my eyes and ears. I need my own seeds within this organisation as a means to check on Athanasios and his undead brood. You are not my first recruit for this task. There are others, and you will all unwittingly watch each other. That way I would know if one of you were to get out of line. Would you do that for me, Draco?"

"Of course, my Lady," Draco said. It wasn't as if he had much choice anyway.

She flashed him a beautiful smile. "Do you expect me to believe that you'd serve me without expecting a reward? Honestly, I have been around for a long time."

Draco blushed. "Some sort of reward would be nice. It instils loyalty as well." Voldemort had used death as a penalty for failure. While this had certainly been motivating, it had hardly inspired loyalty, and in the end one of his servants betrayed his location to Potter.

"Again, true words." She beckoned him over. "Come on over here and give me your wand. Hopefully what I am about to do will convince you of my intentions." 

Draco reluctantly walked over to her and handed over his wand.

"I heard about your unfortunate injury. Remove your trousers and underwear."

Draco's eyes widened. "Excuse me?"

"You heard me, Draco."

Draco fumbled with his belt and lowered his trousers and underpants, his face burning with shame as he saw her eyes settle on the urination aide Yamato had outfitted him with.

She pointed the wand at the damaged area and narrowed her eyes. Her body began to glow and her long, silver hair stood on end. Then there was a flash, and a rush of warmth in his loins. He looked down…He was whole again.

"How…H-how did you d-do this?"

"Magic," she said simply.

"I-I…Thank you!" 

"What I have given I can also take away," she said. "That will be part of the price you'll pay if you betray me." 

"My Lady, I would never betray you!"

Again She laughed. "I have asked around before deciding to summon you, Draco. You would betray anybody if it suited your purposes. But don't worry" —she smiled reassuringly as Draco's face drained of all colour upon hearing her remark—"I won't give you any reason to betray me."

Draco looked down again. "Will I be able to—"

"I restored the shape and function. You have complete feeling as well, but you still won't be able to reproduce, for there are limits to even my powers." Then she frowned and pursed her lips, observing him critically. "Not very impressive, are you? I guess you'll have to do, though." 

Draco blinked. "Do what?"

"Hmmm, I thought you'd be smarter than this," she teased. "Do you think I always prance around naked? I have selected you to keep me company when I need it. You're a far better alternative than the other wizards here."

Her intentions finally became clear to Draco, and his reaction was immediate, despite her earlier comments about his suitability. "It's not the size of the broomstick, it's the skill of the flyer," he said defensively.

She smiled. "I'm glad to see it is once again in working order." She grabbed him by the wrist and pulled him onto the bed. "Now show me how you wizards do it in this twenty-first century!"

*

Ginny was about to wake up, so Hermione and Ron went to the medical wing to be by her side when she finally did so.

They found Lilia and Gudrun sitting on either side of her bed, each holding her hand. The duo had adopted Ginny as their little sister, and Gavin Carey had caused the other male Rangers to refer to them as Morrigan triplets.

Hermione had to admit that it was a bit spooky. Ginny had red hair, once again long and thick, since Lilia had rubbed extra-strength hair-growth cream on her head after healing the cuts in her scalp. Gudrun's natural hair colour was a darker shade of blonde and Lilia's a very dark brown, nearly black. Thus the three main stereotypical hair-colours were represented. Ginny was pure-blooded, while Lilia had one Muggle parent and Gudrun was Muggle-born. Then there was the fact that the male Rangers saw them as the bane of all men.

A shiver ran down her spine as Hermione realised how close her thoughts came to the truth. In a very indirect way, Ginny had caused Harry's death. She wasn't guilty of killing him, like Ron had accused her of doing in the angry outburst shortly after Harry's death, but her words had caused him so much grief that he didn't see where he was going. And unless Ginny could detach herself from Harry, she would soon join him in death. She would simply waste away. 

"How is she?" Ron asked. Hermione knew him well enough to know exactly what he was thinking by the look on his face. He was still feeling very guilty about his outburst earlier, which, they both knew, may have driven Ginny to her attempted suicide. 

"I don't understand," Lilia said. "We gave her some natural sedatives before countering the stunner, to keep her unconscious. But they don't seem to work very well. She's still troubled."

Her sleep was indeed uneasy. Her face was sweaty and her brow furrowed, and her head rolled from side to side on the pillow. Lilia gently wiped her face and neck with a towel.

She's called for Harry a few times," Gudrun said. "It's a bad dream…she talked about Tom. She told me about her first year at school." she added quietly

Hermione had never seen the Icelandic witch look so depressed. She had obviously grown quite attached to Ginny over the last few months. Occasionally, she wiped away tears with the back of her free hand. Then she released Ginny's hand and got up. "Excuse me…call me when she wakes up."

Ron nodded and took her seat, reaching out to take Ginny's hand.

Gudrun hurried past Hermione, covering her face with her hands. Hermione heard her stifle a sniff, which truly brought out her curiosity. She followed Gudrun out of the small room and found her leaning against the wall, weeping softly.

"Gudrun, what's wrong?"

"W-Wolfe told me what m-might happen to Ginny." Gudrun pulled a dirty rag out of her pocket and blew her nose. "You're wondering why it bothers me so much." It was more of a statement than a question.

Hermione nodded. "I know she's your friend, but you haven't really known her that long." It was odd, really. Hermione knew that she should have been much more upset over Ginny's condition. But maybe the fact that she hadn't given up on Ginny yet kept her going. She knew that Ginny would do anything for Harry. If they could convince her that Harry would have wanted her to get on with her life, she'd be all right.

Gudrun stared at a blank spot on the opposite wall as she began to tell her tale. "When I was fifteen, I took my little sister to the hot-springs. My parents thought that I'd look after her properly and that she'd be safe with me, since I was a witch. She drowned when I wasn't looking… I was too busy looking at a boy I had a crush on." Gudrun's voice had gone ice-cold. "By the time I noticed and went to find her, it was too late. I tried to use some spells to revive her, in public, and there was a big riot over that at the Ministry. Some pure-bloods wanted to snap my wand in two for that, but there was this witch who stood up for me. It was Irina…Captain Kovalenko, but I didn't know that at that point. I found out years later.

"My sister had red hair, and she looked a little like Ginny. She would have been Ginny's age now."

Hermione was dumbfounded. She'd never known that about Gudrun. It certainly explained a few things. "I'm sorry."

"It's all right," Gudrun said. "It's just that seeing Ginny like that…"

"I understand. But don't give up on Ginny yet. She's a fighter. With us by her side, she may yet pull through."

"Do you think so?" 

"Yes!" Hermione said, although she wished she were half as confident as she appeared.

"I'll be there for Ginny," Gudrun said. "I won't let her down."

"Auntie Hermione!" a child's voice squealed. Auntie Hermione…Ron had used that name as a joke a few weeks ago, but little Charlie had called her that ever since. He broke away from his mother, who was accompanied by Galatea, and stormed at Hermione

Hermione bent down and picked the boy up, twirling him around. "Charlie, what are you doing here?"

"Auntie Tea brought me here to see Auntie Ginny. Is she sick?"

Hermione handed him back to his mother. Jasmine never left her son alone, but this was not the time or place for a child. "Yes, Aunt Ginny is sick."

"What's wrong with her?"

Hermione thought about it before answering. "She has a broken heart."

"Is that like having a broken arm? I broke my arm last week, remember? But Auntie Ginny fixed me right up. You can fix her heart, can't you, Auntie Hermione?"

Hermione had to fight back the tears and swallow several times to remove the lump in her throat. "I…we'll see!"

"Don't cry, Auntie Hermione. Everything will be all right, you'll see. Mummy says that if you wish for something hard enough, it will come true someday."

Hermione wished she shared his youthful innocence and optimism. She put on her brave face. "You're right, Charlie. Everything will be all right."

More footsteps announced the approach of Lieutenant Montoya and Commander Nomvete. This meant that Ginny would wake up at any moment.

"Jasmine, good to see you!" Commander Nomvete said warmly. "Will you be needing any help with your move?"

"Where are you moving to?" Hermione asked.

"Here!" Jasmine said, frowning. 

"Why?"

"Kainda Kuwahsa disappeared without a trace in the Congo, yesterday," Commander Nomvete said.

Hermione frowned. She knew that name from somewhere, but the total recognition eluded her.

The other Mind Reader, besides Hitomi Ito and my family," Jasmine clarified.

"We've been watching her as closely as possible to try and keep her safe. We had actually wanted her to go into hiding after Ito's disappearance, but the local Minister for Magic wouldn't have it. He's been paying her lots of gold to sniff out his political opponents. She had trouble parting with her source of income as well, and we couldn't really force her, so we settled for monitoring her. She may have dropped out of sight on her own accord, but we're not taking any chances. Jasmine and Charlie will remain at the Citadel until the matter is resolved."

It was a sensible precaution. "I reckon it's a good idea."

"_Mummy_!" Charlie complained. "Do we _have_ to stay here? I told Ariel that we'd play gobstones tomorrow."

"Your girlfriend will have to wait," Jasmine smiled. "I'll call her mum and tell her that we can't come over tomorrow."

"She is _not_ my girlfriend!" Charlie protested. "She's just okay, for a _girl_!"

"Of course, dear," his mother said.

"Hermione, Gudrun, Ginny's waking up!" they heard Ron shout. That was everybody's cue to crowd into the room. Lilia stepped aside to allow Hermione to be next to Ginny, while she stood further away at the foot of the bed with Gudrun.

Galatea, Charlie, Jasmine and Commander Nomvete stood at the far wall, while Montoya stood next to Hermione, so he could give Ginny a check-up.

Ginny slowly opened her eyes. "Harry?" she groaned. "Where is Harry?"

An uncomfortable silence reigned for a good thirty seconds, before Ron spoke. He was clearly reluctant to do so, still bothered by his uncontrolled emotional outburst. "Ginny…I'm sorry about what I said earlier. I had no right to says those things to you. I know you didn't mean to say those things to Harry…I didn't mean to say the things I said to you either. I had no right to tell you off for what happened between you and Harry, when the same thing was happening between you and me. What I'm saying is — I understand why you were angry with Harry like that, and I shouldn't have been angry with you and accused you of all those things because of it. I mean, if it weren't for what I did after I got cursed by accident, Harry wouldn't have run away from us, and the two of you would never have grown apart in the first place…"

Ron was being very careful with his words, and Hermione was quite shocked to hear all this. In the past few hours, she'd got a distinctive feeling that Ron somehow blamed himself for Harry and Ginny's falling out. But she'd had no idea that Ron's guilt covered things that went so far back, and she certainly hadn't expected him to open up in front of all these people. But perhaps it was all for the better.

Ginny, however, seemed to hear none of his words. She just looked past Ron at Lieutenant Montoya and asked again, "Where's Harry?"

Ron swallowed. "Ginny…Harry's gone."

Ginny shook her head vehemently. "That's not true. He's not dead. I can feel it in my heart."

"Gin, we all saw him, remember? You saw him first!"

"He told me everything would be all right!" Ginny said. "I heard him! It was real!" She began to shake. "Harry told me everything would be all right!"

"I'm sure he did, Ginny," Ron said carefully. "He'd want you to be strong and live your life to the fullest, even if he wasn't around."

"No!" Ginny shouted fiercely. "You don't understand. He's not dead!"

"Ginny, don't be like this."

Hermione decided to try a different approach and relieve Ron of some of the pressure. "Ginny, why do you think Harry is still alive?"

"I told you already, I can feel it. The fall didn't kill him. He wasn't dead. Lieutenant Montoya was wrong. A fall like that couldn't kill Harry."

Hermione bit her lip. Under normal circumstances, Ginny would have been right. Harry's magic would have saved him somehow. But like Wolfe had said, if a wizard didn't feel like living anymore, the inner magic wouldn't save him. But she couldn't throw this into Ginny's face now. She couldn't tell Ginny that her last words to Harry had been the reason that his magic hadn't saved him. Ginny was obviously on the brink of insanity right now, and Hermione didn't want to push her over the edge. But she had no idea what to say.

"I'm not crazy!" Ginny snapped. "Stop staring at me as if I'm someone who's escaped from St Mungo's mental ward!"

"Harry will always live on in your heart," Lilia said soothingly, "but he's gone now. Please, Ginny. Harry wouldn't want you to do this to yourself."

"Lilia's right, Ginny," another person said. "Let's hope it never comes to that, though!"

Jasmine grabbed Charlie tighter and backed away into a corner of the room, her mouth hanging open with shock. Commander Nomvete's knees gave out, but Galatea caught her just in time, preventing her from hitting the floor.

Harry smiled timidly. "I don't look half bad for a dead man, do I?"

"I-imp-possible!" Montoya stammered.

"It wasn't easy!"—Wolfe said, appearing behind Harry—"but far from impossible."

***

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A/N: Hmmm, if this keeps up, Harry will end up putting Lazarus to shame. (If it makes you feel any better, oh noble readers, this is the last time that I pretend to kill Harry off. If I do it any more it'll just be repetitive. Anyway, the explanation as to exactly how Harry survived comes in chapter 6.

The winner of the challenge is Nosgoroth, BTW. His guess was closest on target.

And now to answer the reviews:

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Gogirl: Yes, I tremendously enjoy torturing Ginny and Harry.

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The Millennium One: Well, your guess was way off, but it was a valiant attempt. And what do you mean by _second in command_ on the Evilprise? By the time I'm done with you, ruskbyte's evilness will seem trivial. Second in command…Hah! ;-)

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KaYos: A soap opera, huh? Well, I guess my plot will have even more violent and unlikely twists and turns than Melrose Place. (even though M.P. technically isn't a soap, but I digress)

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LaminaCourt: Afterlife? Nothing quite that funky, sorry. But I had a great time reading and re-reading all these crazy theories. :-) (which is mainly why I issued the challenge…sadistic, I know.

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Casual Reader: You actually came in second, but it was winner take all challenge. :-(

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Sorensen: I hope this answers part of your question. 

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Honey666: Your new reviewing style is very amusing. 

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kateydidnt: Sorry, didn't mean to make you cry.

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JF: Yes, Ginny is Harry's centre, but as you've seen that works both ways. She can invigorate him and tear him apart.

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Nox: The chapter is up. Have a little patience with me.

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Maverick Davis: Changed your name again have you?

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Rowan: Oh my, that was a complicated theory.

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Ginny1946: Ah, Carey, funny that you should mention her.

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Petals: I know, I'm evil. As for what Heidi said: " No, that is not possible…Harry!" And don't be so tough on Heidi. She's just a victim of circumstance.

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Maxennce: That's okay, I appreciate the review anyway.

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SiriDragon: You hate me? Join the club. :-)

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nycgal: Patience.

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Nosgoroth: You have seen…You know! Oh, and I am to surpass our pal, ruskbyte. (If that's at all possible)

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Moridin Shadar: Why thank you, I'm honoured. 

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Mike Potter: Thanks for the review. I always update first on ff.net. I gives me a chance to iron out any mistakes left before I post on GT.

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Falrow: Canadian, eh? LOL, sorry. I couldn't help myself. If I may ask, where does the 'eh' stereotype come from, anyway?

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jedifanatic: death threats? Been there, done that.

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Maab: Japanese princess…good one. 

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Laura: Finally someone who sympathises with poor Heidi.

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RogueAngel: You're speechless? That's good.

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jona: Nice to have you back. 


	6. Fate's Reckoning

**Disclaimer:** New addition: Some adapted dialogue has been borrowed from Michael Straczynski's Babylon 5 show, and a piece of goblin culture was modelled after the Ferengi Rules of Acquisition…that's from Star Trek, in the unlikely event that someone doesn't know what I'm talking about. 

**Fate's Reckoning**

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Chapter 6

It was as if the bed were enchanted to throw its occupant off, so quickly did Ginny jump off it and launch herself at Harry, who found himself locked in her embrace before he could say _accio._

"I'm sorry, Harry. I understand why you mistook me for Heidi, I know how much I look like her …I even thought I was seeing her when I saw my own mirror reflection from across the room. It was just a stupid, terrible mistake. I shouldn't have behaved like that." Out of breath, she backed away a little to look him in the eye uncertainly. "Can you forgive me?"

Despite knowing the truth already, after having experienced Ginny's reaction to his death, her words still invigorated his soul and that cosy warmth he could only feel while he was close to her enveloped him again. "I'm sorry, too. It was still stupid of me to mistake you for Heidi."

Ginny shook her head. "No, no, no! _I've _acted like an idiot. You were right."

"Yeah, but—" Harry started to say, when Wolfe cleared his throat.

"Personally, I think neither of you are to blame. It was just a terrible mutual misunderstanding, and I want both of you to promise me that you'll never allow something like this to happen again."

Harry looked at Ginny, who was smiling shyly. "We won't…I mean, we promise," she said quietly, but loud enough for Wolfe and the others to hear it.

"That's nice to know," Wolfe said, but the way he said it didn't feel right to Harry. He noticed that his companion was ashen-faced now. Wolfe had looked extremely tired before, but now there was also anxiety on his features. He was staring at the white floor of the room.

"Wolfe?"

Wolfe didn't look up. "I think the others would like to know what happened," he said. 

"Impossible," Montoya, the first to throw off his shock, finally replied, "I saw the body less than twenty minutes ago."

Wolfe slowly raised his gaze and swept it across the room, letting it linger on his sister and nephew for a moment, before letting it rest on Galatea. "Rest assured, this is really Harry. Ginny _did_ hear him at the base of the cliff."

"It can't be! He was dead!" Montoya yelled. He looked on the verge of nervous collapse.

Wolfe shook his head. "It will all make sense very soon." He looked at Commander Nomvete. "Could you please summon all the present captains? They'll all have to be present to—" 

"Commander!" a high pitched female voice said. Half a second later, Noelani Winters, an analyst, shoved her way past Harry, Ginny and Wolfe. "Commander, the Ranger Prime is dead. I was on my way to wake her up, but I found her in bed. She must have passed on a while ago, since she was already getting a bit stiff."

Commander Nomvete's hands went up to her temples. "Not unexpected. She called Donovan and me up for a meeting a few days ago. She told us she could feel that she didn't have much time left. I had no idea her death would come so soon…She's always had terrible timing. I could really use her counsel right now—"

Winters' sudden shriek interrupted the Commander's sentence, and she pointed a quivering finger at Harry. "What…how…you?"

"That's what I'd like to know," Ron said, having got over his initial shock.

"All of us would." Hermione nodded.

"Why don't you tell them, Harry," Wolfe said wearily. "I'll tell the ranking officers. Commander, if you will?"

"All right, my office," Nomvete said. "Noelani, where is Captain Sharif?"

"He should still be in the First Ranger's chamber, taking care of her…I called him as soon as I found her like that. Captain Sanzotti is contacting the relatives."

"Tell Imhotep to come to my office as soon as he's done. As for Gustava, her second can take over her duties. Please alert the other captains as well."

"Faust is on his honeymoon," Wolfe said.

"Right…so call one of his lieutenants."

"I'm not completely sure —" Winters frowned "—but I think all the Combat Ranger Lieutenants are out on missions."

Nomvete heaved an exasperated sigh. "What about Fourth Class Rangers?"

"Ma'am, the bulk of the senior Combat Rangers has been deployed to help with the cleanup of Anastasiou's former strongholds, and patrols have also been increased due to the disappearance of the Mind Reader. Khan and Mordecai accompanied Commander Ironheart, to watch his back, since he might be at risk as well."

"So there aren't _any_ Fourth Class Combat Rangers? Brody, Orzaiz, Blackmoon, Nguyen, Al-Hassan, Gedeon?"

"I'm afraid not," Winters said.

Nomvete looked at Wolfe. "Technically, a Combat Ranger should be here, but there's no point in having someone below Fourth Class present."

Wolfe nodded. "I guess it won't matter whether or not the Combat Rangers are represented."

Harry looked from Wolfe to Nomvete. He didn't like the look on the commander's face, and he got the sinking feeling that the consequences of Wolfe's actions were going to be much farther-reaching than he'd thought. Why would all the Departments have to have a representative, preferably the highest ranking one? Before he could say anything about it, the commander led Wolfe out of the hospital room. 

"So what the hell happened?" Ron asked, obviously anxious to drag the explanation out of Harry. "This is the second time that you came back from the dead."

"Good to know you've still got your sense of humour!" Harry said, glancing down at Ginny, who still had her arms wrapped around him tightly, her face buried in the crook of his neck. "Ginny…could you please let go of me?"

"No…don't want to!" came Ginny's muffled reply, causing nervous chuckles to break out around the room.

"Just for a little while, so we can sit down?" he asked. He didn't really want Ginny to let go of him either, for her arms around him gave him too good a feeling. But he couldn't move like this. 

With visible reluctance, Ginny slackened her grip, but followed him to the bed as if they were connected by a very short, invisible string. She climbed his lap the instant after he'd sat down on the bed and wrapped her arms around him again.

As he took a moment to enjoy their comfortable closeness, he was struck by the frightening realisation of how much power Ginny held over him. Being with her right now made him feel complete, while a careless sentence from her mouth had nearly driven him mad with anguish. The reverse was also true, he realised. He too had to be careful, lest he hurt Ginny. He'd been incredibly insensitive to her obvious pain earlier, telling her that he expected her to apologise to Heidi, which he did, but that had been the wrong time to bring it up. The sound of someone clearing his throat brought him back to reality, reminding him of the task at hand.

"Right. Well, it all boils down to this, really. Wolfe travelled back through time to save me. He was waiting on his broomstick, under an invisibility cloak—"

"But that doesn't make sense," Hermione interrupted. "You died…your body was there—"

"If you let me finish, I promise that all your questions will be answered. Yes, there was a body, but obviously that wasn't me, now was it? It was a, what did Wolfe call it again, oh yes…a Cauldron Clone." He heard a sharp intake of breath, but chose to ignore it for now. Wolfe had told him about the phenomenon of Cauldron Clones, and the many unsavoury things they were used for. But his clone had been used for a worthy cause, so he didn't see the problem. "You see, he had to drop a perfect copy of me in my place, because he'd take away his past-self's reason to travel back through time to save me in the first place otherwise, and his present self would be bumped out of the timeline and become displaced in time." 

"So he did it to avoid creating a temporal paradox," Ron summarised. "He had been planning this all along…That report he had to make — he was just gathering the information he needed to pull this off unseen, wasn't he?"

Harry marvelled at the speed with which Ron had come the correct conclusion. "Yeah. He knew exactly how long it would take for Cirilo to turn the Cruiser around and for Ethan to reach the edge of the bay and look down. He knew all he needed to know to stay out of everybody's way until his past self had travelled back into time."

"So it was you, who caught Ginny after she jumped?" Hermione asked. 

"Wolfe, actually. He knew Ginny was going to jump, after all. He did it with eye-contact alone…it was brilliant!"

"All right, let me work this out. He intercepted you in mid-air and dropped the Cauldron Clone in your place?"

Harry nodded.

"And I reckon this happened quite a bit lower than the Cruiser gate, didn't it?"

"Yeah. Why?"

Hermione smiled. "Nothing, it just all makes sense now. Your body, the clone, wasn't nearly as damaged as it should have been after such a long drop. But Wolfe dropped it from a lower altitude, so that explains it." 

"You don't realise how serious the situation is, do you?" Montoya said sharply. "Wolfe travelled through time illegally, and probably stole one of the Order's Time Turners to do it.

"Secondly, he somehow created a Cauldron Clone, or managed to have someone create one for him. That's magic of the darkest kind. Cauldron Clones were conceived by a society of dark wizards, who believed themselves to be the masters of life and death, about three hundred years ago. A Ranger has no business creating them.

"Then there's the fact that he killed the Cauldron Clone. Given enough time, these clones can develop themselves and almost become like normal people. I guess this clone was fresh, and barely aware of its own existence, but it's still murder. Wolfe committed murder!"

"Yeah, but he did it to save my life and Ginny's," Harry protested. Now he understood the look that Commander Nomvete had given Wolfe. She must have been thinking about all the rules Wolfe had had to shatter in order to save his life. "He saved our lives, that's got to count for something!"

"I'm sure it will," Montoya replied. "But the Order of Illumination can't tolerate this sort of behaviour, Potter. If Wolfe isn't properly dealt with, other Rangers might get ideas to pull similar stunts. But short of Hermione here, I can't think of anyone who's clever enough to do what he did."

"I could never do that," Hermione said. "I wouldn't know where to begin. I don't know enough about the Order's resources—"

"Exactly!" Montoya frowned. "But Wolfe did know about them, and proved to be willing to shatter all the rules by using these resources, not to mention delving into dark magic and committing murder to advance his own goals. Such behaviour cannot be tolerated by the Order. It also makes me doubt his mental stability. I always knew he was a bit of a loose cannon, but I never expected him to do anything of this magnitude."

"I've travelled through time to change the past too!" Harry said, remembering his third year at Hogwarts, and how he managed to give Sirius a few precious years of life by doing so. He had never regretted it. "If such behaviour can't be tolerated by the Order, than perhaps it was wrong for me to join," Harry muttered bitterly, giving Montoya an icy glare. "Because if I'd been in his shoes, given the means and knowledge, I'd have done the same thing."

"Me too," Ron said.

"Harry didn't do his earlier time travel alone," Hermione stated, indicating that she stood squarely behind him.

"Max is a good person," Ginny began. "He has saved my life twice now. I can't stand by and let him be punished for something I would have done myself." She looked at Harry. "I think we should make it clear to the officers." She slid off Harry's lap and pulled him off the bed. "Come on!"

"Don't go!"

Surprised, Harry turned around. Jasmine was giving him a mournful look as she patted Galatea's hands. Galatea was looking — there was no better word for it — terrified.

"Max knew that you'd react like this," Jasmine said. "He revealed his thoughts to me…He doesn't want you to leave the Order because of him. He saved your life because he knew that by doing so, he'd save Ginny's as well. He believes that the two of you are special, and that you could contribute more to the Order, and help more people than he could have done, had he allowed history to run its course. If you leave the Order, his sacrifice will have been in vain."

Harry cursed inwardly. He saw what Jasmine was getting at, but he couldn't just stand by and let Wolfe bear this burden alone.

"Harry, please. I'm not sure if this is true…It's just what Max thought would happen…If you challenge the officers about this, you'll have to leave the Order too."

"It is true enough!" Montoya said, but his expression had changed. It was no longer one of disapproval. Now the Medical Ranger's features also held sympathy. "He sacrificed a great deal for this. You should honour it."

"What brought about the change in your attitude?" Harry frowned.

"I was never your enemy, or Wolfe's, Potter. But what Jasmine said changes matters entirely. I thought that Wolfe was expecting to get away with this. But as it turns out, he knew the outcome. That means that his actions, while rash, were not selfish and undisciplined…They were noble. Still, he'll have to face the consequences. The things he did, no matter how well intentioned, can't be taken lightly."

Harry clenched his fists. It still wasn't fair. If only he could go back in time to warn Wolfe of the outcome…maybe it would change Wolfe's mind about—

"Don't do it, Harry." Jasmine sighed. "Max anticipated this too. By now, he must have warned the officers to keep an eye on you and keep you away from the other Time Turners. He made his decision…why won't you respect it?"

Harry unfurled his fists. How did Wolfe get to know him so well in so little time? It was scary, really. "All right, but I'm still going to speak on his behalf."

"I'll support you, for what it's worth," Montoya said. "But you can't expect him to avoid the consequences altogether."

Harry nodded gratefully. With a lieutenant backing him, his words would probably carry more weight. "As long as we keep him away from those Dementors."

*

After they arrived at the commander's office, they were asked to wait until the meeting had ended. That took well over an hour, and Galatea, who had been with them initially, began to feel sick. She'd been looking so bad, that Ginny took her to the Medical Wing to give her a check-up even though they, like Hermione, suspected that it was simple stress. Galatea had been extremely distraught ever since the possibility of Wolfe being sent away to a Dementor-guarded prison was mentioned. She thought that Max would be vulnerable to Dementors because of the many bad memories he had. 

"Ranger Potter, I understand what you're saying. Now I ask you to view this from my perspective," Commander Nomvete said, beginning to count on her fingers. "He stole and used a number of Potions and artefacts for his own use…He stole your blood sample for the creation of the clone. But that isn't the bad part. Do you know how he got the Cauldron Clone?"

Harry shook his head, and Hermione frowned, remembering that Harry hadn't mentioned that. 

"No, he didn't tell me."

"Lei Li knew a dark wizard who could create those clones. If I'm not mistaken, Lei struck a deal with that wizard, considering him a loose end in exchange for any favours that might come up. If the Order had known about that…" Nomvete shook her head. "Max inherited a lot of information upon Lei's death — the kind information the he shouldn't have kept from us. No Ranger can be allowed to keep information of this nature to himself."

Montoya winced upon the revelation of this new information.

Nomvete continued, "Then there's the fact that he could have endangered the Order with his actions. He took many precautions, by disguising himself with Polyjuice Potion and Memory-Charming the dark wizard he dealt with, but he still took enormous risks. 

"We've taken his good intention into account, but let's not forget the road to hell is paved with good intentions. As it is, we've been extremely lenient with him. He'll have to spend four months in a lower level security area of Azkaban Prison where he won't be exposed to Dementors quite as much. After serving his sentence, he'll be released to do as he pleases. Of course, it goes without saying that he's been dishonourably discharged, and that he won't be allowed into Concordia after that."

"That isn't fair, Commander!" Harry growled.

"Mind your tone, Ranger Potter." Nomvete frowned. "All in all, his transgressions were severe enough to earn him four _years_ in a _more_ secure area of Azkaban. I know this is difficult for you to accept, and I'll understand if you don't want to be part of the Order of Illumination anymore because of it. I'd hate to lose you, of course, but there's really nothing I can do to stop you from leaving if you want to go. However, you ought to know that Wolfe expressed his desire for you to stay with the Order."

"I already know," Harry mumbled.

"Commander, can we at least see him before he goes?" Hermione asked, knowing that Galatea could use the time with Max. 

"Of course. He'll be leaving tomorrow morning. You can visit him until them. He's being kept in a private holding cell at the Head Office of the City Watch. I've informed Chief Garibaldi that he's allowed to have visitors. Is there anything else you'd like to discuss with me?"

"No," Harry said, before spinning on his heel and striding out of the office, trembling with barely restrained frustration. 

"Maybe we can break him out…" Ron muttered, as they followed Harry out.

"Honestly, Ron!" Hermione whispered back, even though she too had briefly entertained the same idea. "Harry, slow down. Where are you going?" 

"To the Head Office of the City Watch."

"I'm sure Galatea would like to go too. If anyone's got to be with Max it's _her_."

"Right…I'm sure Ginny would like to come too." 

They hurried down to the Medical Wing and looked for Galatea and Ginny. They found them in one of the wards, Galatea sipping a foul-smelling herbal drink.

"All of it, Tea," Ginny said. "You need to calm down. Everything will be okay…you'll see. You can't be upset like this, you'll become ill, and that isn't good for the baby—" she stopped in mid-sentence as she noticed Hermione, Ron and Harry approaching her. "How did it go?"

"Terrible," Harry groaned. "I couldn't make a difference. He's still going to Azkaban. But he'll be kept in an area the Dementors patrol less often."

"How long?" Galatea asked with a trembling voice.

"Four months," Ron answered gloomily.

"Four months…maybe, there is still hope, then." But she didn't look hopeful at all. 

"We can go visit him at the City Watch!" Hermione said. "Commander Nomvete said that you can stay there until he leaves. You really ought to be with Max right now."

Galatea downed the last of the foul-smelling drink. "I'm ready."

The expression on her face really broke Hermione's heart, and for a moment she was really angry with Max. How could he have done this? He had known about the baby. How could he have chosen to go through with it if he'd known what would have happened to him?

"What's wrong, Hermione? Why are you angry?"

"It's nothing…it's just that, you'll be alone again."

"But Wolfe's going to be out before the baby is born, right? It's not like he's going to die," Ron said, although the confident look on his face faltered as he noticed that Galatea wasn't quite that optimistic. "Wolfe's really tough, and he's not going to the worst section."

"Yeah!" Harry nodded, but the look on his colourless face, no doubt caused by his own memories of Dementors, didn't do much to lighten the mood.

Ginny took his hand with her free one, and gave it a squeeze. "Are you okay?"

Harry took a deep breath. "Fine…just a bit tired."

Hermione could instantly see that Harry wasn't telling the truth. She'd seen that look far too often before. He felt responsible for what happened. She glanced at Ron, who returned her knowing look. He had seen it too, and was now giving her an inquisitive look. She answered it with a brief shake of her head. Now was not the time to talk to Harry about it.

"I can't go right now, someone has to occupy the station," Montoya said. "And I don't think would have been my place to visit him, anyway. I'm sorry that I wasn't much help with Commander Nomvete!" he added.

"That's okay. Keeping _that_ sort of knowledge from the Order is pretty bad." Harry sighed, looking defeated. Hermione knew how he felt.

*

The entrance hall of the Head Office of the City Watch was a fairly nice place. There were about a dozen constables in the hall, going in several directions. Half of them were wizards, while the other half consisted of cunning-looking goblins and stout dwarves — who, despite their size, could bring down a wizard. The dwarves and goblins carried what looked like overgrown tuning forks. These could be made to vibrate by hitting them against a hard surface. Then, one had to touch one's intended target with the fork. The vibrations could knock out a giant. 

But Ginny knew that those devices were hardly ever used, since Concordia was a very peaceful place. If there would ever be any serious trouble, the Rangers would take care of it.

Galatea seemed to know her way around, and she purposefully strode over to the desk, behind which a rather large and surly-looking goblin was sitting. 

"Yes?"

"We are here to see Mr Garibaldi."

The goblin sized them up. "Hmmm, now what brings five Rangers to our humble office? Mr Garibaldi is inspecting the sector offices. Is there anything I can do for you?"

"We need to see a…_p-prisoner_!" It had obviously been very hard for Galatea to utter that last word, and Ginny sympathised. Wolfe had done a good thing, but he was imprisoned like a criminal.

"I don't have the authority for this. Walk all the way down the corridor and take a left, take two flights of stairs up and walk down that corridor until you reach a rather exquisite baroque-style door that must've cost a fortune…ahem, that's Chief Garibaldi's office, but that's not where you're supposed to be. You should try the office next to it, which should be occupied by one of the Deputies" —the Goblin opened a large book on the desk and scanned the page—"Heather Peterson." 

"She can help us?" Ginny asked.

"Yes, she can." The Goblin nodded. "Oh, and when you see him, tell Docmor that I expect interest on those fifty Galleons he borrowed from me."

The whole group turned around and looked at the goblin curiously, and Ginny noticed something about him. He was much taller than most goblins, like Doc.

"Are you one of his brothers?" Ron asked, voicing Ginny's thoughts.

"Yes,"— the half-goblin grinned —"Couldn't you tell by my devastatingly good looks? Now as I was saying, I expect interest, twenty percent. I didn't really want to resort to telling you this, but he's been dodging his debt for far too long!"

"Twenty percent, that's extortion…Your own brother!" Ron exclaimed.

"Precept of Procurement one hundred and seventy-one; blood is thicker than water, but gold is thicker than both." Ginny knew that term, Precept of Procurement. It was like a goblin bible, which stipulated how the goblins lived and did business. "It's the way we goblins do things, Mr Weasley."

"How do you know who I am?" Ron frowned.

"Red hair, vacant expression, those are your family traits. Of course, I learned that one should never judge a being by appearance. Your brother had me completely fooled in the Dartceach game." The goblin's eyes took on a glimmer of admiration. "He would make a good goblin."

Ginny had to bite her tongue and hold her hands together behind her back to stop herself from cursing Doc's brother. Vacant expression indeed! She'd show him…

"Ginny," Harry held out his hand and smirked, "don't pay him any mind. I love your vacant expression!"

Ginny slapped his hand away, but reached for it again as they continued on their way. "So you like dim girls, do you? No wonder…" she stopped herself just in time.

"No wonder, what?"

Ginny felt like ripping out her own tongue. She'd been just about ready to mention Heidi again, and that would have soured the mood for sure. But fortunately, she'd stopped herself. "Nothing!"

Harry's subsequent smile made her legs go to jelly, so it was fortunate that he pulled her close and wrapped his arm around her waist tightly, keeping her on her feet. How could he still affect her like this, after all this time? The rush of heat in her cheeks made her aware of the fierce blush she was wearing.

She returned his smile as she ran her thumb across his index finger, which made him blush in turn and squeeze her hand. It was just like that moment in the Gryffindor common room, that winter in her fifth year.

Surprisingly, many students had gone home for those holidays despite the Death Eater threat, and Ron and Hermione had supposedly gone down to the kitchens. They'd sat in a wide armchair that was meant for a single occupant but allowed for a cosy two. They'd been talking about Fred, George, Percy, Charlie and Bill, who had already been actively involved in the war at that time. She remembered telling Harry how worried she was about all of them, and Harry had reassured her, telling her that everything would be all right. Then he had reached over and taken her hands in his, supposedly to warm them. But after they were all warm and tingly, he still hadn't let go of them. When she looked at him questioningly, her eyes had met his, and she'd simply drowned in those green eyes. Then Ron and Hermione had burst in with news of Death Eater attacks on several families, both wizarding and Muggle. Most of the student had come back to Hogwarts the next day.

"What's wrong?" Harry whispered.

"Nothing's wrong, just…memories. I just remembered the first time we held hands."

"In the common room, the Christmas holidays in '96?"

"Yeah!" Ginny sighed.

Harry chuckled softly. "You know, I was just about done scraping together the courage to kiss you, when Ron and Hermione came back."

Ginny lost control over her jaw muscles, and her mouth fell open as Harry's words filtered into her brain. She closed her mouth with a snap, her face positively on fire now. He had never told her that. Everybody knew that Harry had begun to return her feelings somewhere in her fifth year at Hogwarts, but he had never talked about it, and she'd never asked, assuming that it would be embarrassing for both of them. 

But now she realised that talking about these memories was maybe exactly what their relationship needed. It certainly made her heart pound faster, and she felt warm and fuzzy inside. And she saw that it was having its effect on Harry as well. He was looking at her the same way he looked at her that night in the common room.

They both leaned in and stole a kiss. The soft, smacking sound their lips made was still loud enough for Ron and Hermione to hear, because both of them, not just Ron, turned around to give disapproving looks. Hermione nodded at Galatea, who was leading the way, reminding Ginny that now was not a good time to be overly affectionate. Poor Galatea was about to lose her boyfriend—and it was _her_ fault! If she hadn't blown things out of proportion and hurt Harry like that, he wouldn't have walked away to be hit by the Cruiser and Wolfe wouldn't have had to go back in time—

"It's not your fault!" Harry said quietly, looking downcast. "It's mine. I should've—"

"Neither of you is to blame!" Galatea said sharply. 

She must have heard everything, but how had she…? Then Ginny remembered that heightened senses were another side effect of part-Veela pregnancies.

"Your guilt is saturating the air around me. Stop feeling guilty…I'll absorb your emotions and feel guilty too."

"Sorry, Tea," Ginny said.

They followed the half-goblin's directions and ended up where they needed to be. Galatea knocked on the door, and a male voice told them to enter. Galatea pushed the door open and lead them in. It was a sparsely decorated office, and a brown-haired man was sitting behind the desk, staring over what looked like a portable mirror terminal.

"Uh, Heather Peterson?" Harry asked uncertainly.

"Do I look like a Heather to you?" The young man asked, but the merry expression on his face and twinkle in his blue eyes told Ginny that he wasn't offended. And he looked nothing like a Heather. He stood up, reaching a height of six-foot-three, give or take half an inch. His uniform seemed too small for him, because the City Watch uniforms were supposed to be loose fitting, but not too baggy either. His uniform hugged his frame, accentuating the fact that he worked out on a regular basis. He wasn't devastatingly handsome, but easy enough on the eyes. "I'm Deputy Chief Nel. What can I do for you?"

"Russell," an agitated female voice spoke. "Is there a good reason why you're sitting at _my_ station, using _my_ equipment, or should I just go ahead and snap your hands off at the wrists?"

The voice belonged to a slender woman, about an inch or so taller than Ginny at about five-foot-seven. Her hair was a shiny chestnut brown, and her violet-blue eyes didn't even acknowledge the Rangers as she shoved past them.

"Touchy, aren't we?" Deputy Nel smiled.

The woman exhaled, trying to release some pent-up stress. "Sorry. It's just these new uniforms. They're very nice, but they got my measurements all wrong. Look at me, I feel like a circus tent. Anytime now, a teeny car filled with clowns is going to come flying out of my butt—"

"My uniform is too _small_, so you're not alone in your misery," her colleague replied. "And you've got visitors, Heather."

"I noticed," the woman snapped. "Now get out, you should be at the southern sector, shouldn't you?"

"All right, I'm going." Deputy Nel shook his head and walked past the Rangers, muttering something about PMS under his breath.

"I heard that!" Peterson called after him, and Nel quickened his pace after flashing her an insolent grin. She took her seat and turned her attention on the Rangers. "The Chief told me about possible visitors from the Order of Illumination." She leaned back into the high-backed chair, absently toying with a tiny gold stud earring. "Mr Wolfe didn't strike me as a troublemaker; where did he go wrong?"

"He was too noble for his own good," Harry grumbled, squeezing Ginny's hand almost painfully now. Despite what Galatea had said earlier, he felt responsible for Wolfe, like she did.

Peterson gave Harry an odd look, but let the issue rest. She rose from behind her desk and led the five Rangers down into the dungeons, which were largely unoccupied, until they reached a heavy steel door. She pressed her hand into a red rectangle, turning it green. The door opened to a small office.

A dwarf constable rose from his stool in greeting. "Yes, Deputy Peterson?"

"Disengage the security measures around cell 181."

The dwarf nodded and began to punch in a number of stone keys in the wall behind him in a particular order while another heavy steel door swung open to reveal a long and narrow corridor with six steel doors facing each other.

The door to Wolfe's cell opened upon their approach and Peterson gestured that they could enter, keeping a respectful distance herself. "If you need anything, just alert the guard in the office."

"Thank you," Ron said. "We'll be fine."

Ginny and Harry went in first, and the cell seemed okay to Ginny. At least it wasn't infested with vermin…The thought sent a shiver down her spine. If the stories about Azkaban and similar Dementor-guarded facilities were true, about the rats nibbling at dying prisoners…

Wolfe rose from the cot he'd been sitting on and walked over to Galatea, who had swept in after Harry and Ginny. He raised his cuffed hands and slipped his arms over Galatea once she'd wrapped her arms around his neck. Tears were beginning to form in his eyes, the sight of which caused Ginny's own eyes to burn, signalling the imminent tears.

"Wolfe…why?" Harry uttered, after clearing his throat a few times, but Wolfe cut him off.

"It was my own decision, kid. It's in the past, and nothing you can do can change that," he said, with a warning tone. Everyone in the room knew what he meant by that. He didn't want Harry to try and repeat what he'd done. "There's no second party to blame, so butt out."

"But you finally had a chance to be happy," Ginny said, pausing to swallow the lump in her throat. "You knew you were going to be a father. Why did you throw that all away for Harry and me?" 

"You could've married Galatea, started a family," Harry added

Wolfe shook his head. "It was no choice at all, Harry. You and Ginny are two very special people, who could do great things together that would bring happiness to lots of people. And you deserved a chance to be happy together, so I took your place in destiny's scheme. If I hadn't, I wouldn't have been able to live with myself afterwards anyway, and I would've been a bad husband to Tea, and a bad father to my baby." Despite the gravity of his situation, Wolfe still tried to downplay his tremendous sacrifice. Ginny shook her head at that. "Besides—" he continued" —I'm sure you'd have done the same for me."

Ginny looked at Harry to gauge his reaction. He didn't seem to share Wolfe's faith in him, and after they ended their visit, leaving Galatea behind to allow her time alone with Wolfe before he left, Ginny saw that Harry was still brooding over the implications of Wolfe's statement.

***

**A/N:** Well, I decided not to write a cliffhanger for a change. ;-)

**Gogirl: **First of all, Ginny never really fell for Malfoy…and nah, Ginny won't _fall_ for Malfoy again. Some plot hooks can only be used once.

**Maverick Davis: **I try to keeps things interesting.

**The Millennium One: **I hope this answers your question.

**Jayce:** I hope I manage to live up to your future expectations.

**Sparkle Tangerine: **Malfoy will get what's coming to him, sooner or later.

**bubblez fairy: **Hopefully this chapter clarified things a little.

**Ruskbyte: **Ta daa!

**Ginny1946: **I answer all my reviews, so that takes about forty minutes. :-) I'm about halfway done with chapter 7, but you shouldn't expect it until X-mas, or possibly even later, since I have to run it through two betas. I'll be a bit busy too, this month. And to answer your later review, In principle I update once every two weeks. If the writing goes exceptionally well and I get ahead several chapters, I may throw in an earlier update. But as I mentioned, that isn't the case right now. 

**Nosgoroth: **Chapter 10, eh? Okay, I'm looking forward to seeing what you have in store for us.

**nycgal: **I'm afraid you'll have to wait for a while for the next one.

**SiriDragon: **Actually, sarcasm is when you say positive things in a negative tone, I think. Anyway, I know you weren't being serious. ;-)

**Maab: **Who would have guessed indeed! I try to keep surprising the readers.

**Nox: **Nah, that would've made thing too much like 'Existence after Life'. This time, Harry's 'death wasn't the real issue. It's going to be about the consequences.

**RogueAngel: **This is how.

**LaminaCourt: **Was the explanation satisfying enough?

**psychochick: **What exactly do you mean, Wolfe knew?

**Petals: **Why don't you like her?

**jona: **When are _you_ updating? 

**Blue Roses: **Left you a review too.

**Casual Reader: **I took your comment to heart and decided not to write another cliffie…this time. 

**Saerry Snape: **Hope you've enjoyed it.

**rowan:** I'll do my very best.

**Lucky Angel: **Wow, that's quite some praise

**BaiLing** Damn that was an extensive review!

**pamela-potter-24: **As you can see, I've updated.


	7. Voice of Authority

****

Disclaimer: Any LoTR fan will know what I'm talking about. :-)

****

Author's Note: I haven't thanked my betas for their efforts recently, so I'd like to take this moment to do so. Anne, Christine, I don't know where I'd be without you two.

Noble Readers, be sure to R&R Anne's work. I think it's really good. Ashwinder is her pen name, and I think many of you are already familiar with her fics. But just in case there is a reader who isn't… 

Enjoy the chapter, and please **review**, even if it's just this once. I miss some of my earlier reviewers from 'Existence after Life.' I don't have to deal with 80+ reviews like Ruskbyte does, so I answer all of them. 

****

Voice of Authority

Chapter 7 

It was the end of the first week of October, and three weeks had passed since Wolfe had been sent to Azkaban. The fact that Commander Ironheart hadn't come back to try and reverse the decision was highly confusing. According to Hermione, who had seen the transmission, he had been very shocked upon hearing the news, and he had asked Commander Nomvete and the other officers to reconsider the matter. Captain Faust, who had been recalled from his honeymoon, had tried to pursue the issue, but to no avail.

But Commander Ironheart's absence was still a rather frustrating conundrum. He had departed suddenly, three weeks ago, because of an important matter. But what could be so important that it would keep him from trying to help Wolfe...his grandson? Intellectually, Harry could understand the reasoning behind Nomvete's decision. It had made sense, strictly speaking, which was probably why Commander Ironheart hadn't challenged it, besides the fact that he couldn't show favouritism towards a relative. But despite its logic, Harry still didn't think it was just. If only he had the eloquence to make a compelling case...

"Thinking about Japan?"

Gavin Carey took a seat opposite Harry in the mess hall that was nearly empty since the second shift wasn't over yet, which was when many Rangers who worked that shift grabbed a bite to eat before turning in. There were only three other occupants. These girls were the newest, last minute additions to the recruits. One with curly brown hair, Danielle, waved at Harry, and he replied with a friendly nod.

"Earth to Harry...thinking about cheating on Ginny with that girl, then?" Gavin asked with a smirk.

Harry offered an annoyed snort in response.

"Who are those girls anyway...why would they be here at this hour?"

"They just finished training, I reckon. They're triplets. The one with the brown curls is Danielle. I drilled her a bit earlier, she's not bad, although her skills could use some sharpening."

"Yes, Ranger Potter?" Danielle asked, averting her green eyes from her sisters and looking at him quizzically.

"Don't Ranger Potter me. No decorum unless the situation calls for it, okay? Just call me Harry." After she had nodded, he continued, "Gavin here wondered who you were, and why you were in here at this time."

"We could ask you the same thing," another sister remarked. "You could just have asked us, you know. We don't bite!"

"All right, then." Gavin grinned, taking up the challenge with a mischievous glint in his eyes. "Spill it! Tell me your life stories. It's Ranger tradition!"

The young woman narrowed her brown eyes and began to twirl her black locks, a nervous habit, Harry guessed. "That's not true!"

"Of course it isn't," the small wizard said, rolling his eyes.

"Don't badger the newcomers, Gavin. Let the girls talk."

"Thank you, Harry," the black haired sister said. "I'm Rachel, Rachel Esklove. These are my sisters, Danielle and Sarah!"

The one with curly brown hair waved again as her name was mentioned. The third sister, also green eyed, but with straight, red hair, offered a small smile and added, "From New York City. You know, I'm a bit disappointed, Ranger Carey. Rumour has it that you're one of the best Intel operatives, but I've been here for a whole week, and you didn't even know me, until now."

"Says who?" Gavin asked, stone-faced. "Maybe I did ask around and just pretended not to know you, waiting for an introduction on your part instead." 

"Maybe." Sarah frowned. "But if that were the case, you'd know why we were in the mess hall at this hour."

"Good one. You've got me. You seem to be the smartest of the three. Intelligence Division, I presume?"

Sarah nodded, while her two sisters voiced their displeasure at Gavin's remark.

"I was just teasing." Gavin laughed, then turned his attention back on Sarah. "Analyses or Field Ops?"

"Both!"

"Multi-talented girl, then!" the small Welsh wizard said. "Welcome to the Order of Illumination. Since Harry here mentioned err...drilling...your sister earlier..."

Harry lashed out and punched Gavin in the shoulder, sending him off his chair and onto the floor. The way in which Gavin had twisted his words on purpose was incredibly embarrassing to him, and Harry quickly glanced at the girls, who thankfully were taking it well and laughing it off.

"What did I say?" Gavin asked innocently, in a tone that wouldn't fool anyone. "I was just saying that I assumed she was a Combat Ranger because you trained with her earlier...You mean you weren't practising? You were just screwing around, then?"

"Oh, quit it already!" Danielle said in between sniggers. "Don't worry, Harry. I can take a joke. "Anyway," -she steered the conversation back on course-" the reason we keep these odd hours, at least, on Saturdays, is because we like to observe Sabbath whenever possible."

"Correct me if I'm wrong, but strictly speaking, there are thirty-nine things that you're not allowed to do, right?" Gavin asked.

"That's right," Sarah said.

"That pretty much eliminates a lot of activities before sundown. So you train at night to make up for the you lost on Friday evenings and daytime on Saturdays?"

"Exactly!" Rachel said. "Of course, we understand that the Order's needs come first if such a situation were to arise. But we were happy to learn that you were willing to accommodate our needs as well."

"Oh, yeah. The Order is very cool about that," Gavin said before turning to Harry. "We should try to get some sleep, you know. We need to do some planning later on."

"We're going to catch some z's too," Rachel said. "See you guys around."

Just as the girls were leaving, Matt Kelly and Ron walked into the mess hall.

"Hello, I don't believe I've had the pleasure," Matt said, eyeing the girls curiously, and Harry rolled his eyes. The way the tall Australian gazed at the girls suggested that he was mentally undressing them. Not that it was uncommon for him to do so...

"You didn't, and you won't!" Rachel said coolly. "Good night!"

Ron sniggered at Matt's rejection, but the Australian shrugged it off. "They'll fall for me eventually."

Matt's ego was amusing. Harry knew that he was actually pretty popular with the ladies, but usually the shallow and superficial type. Just the type Matt liked, because he wasn't really after a steady relationship. "You know, if you tone down your egotism a few notches, the female Rangers might actually start to like you."

"They've all got a secret crush on me, they just don't know it yet," Matt replied. "Were those their natural hair colours, by the way? I thought I saw some different colour streaks in their hair."

"I don't know. You could ask them."

"Oh, Junior!" Matt shook his head sadly. "There are much more interesting ways to find out a girl's true hair colour, if you know what I mean!" He winked.

"How long has it been since you've used that useless lump on your shoulders, or does the little one call the shots for you?" Gavin laughed, and Ron and Harry joined in.

"Honestly, boys!" Gudrun said, as she and Ginny came into the mess hall. Harry glanced at his watch and noticed that the second shift had just ended. "Matt Kelly returns to the Citadel, and all civilised conversation among you men stops. Can't you have a conversation that isn't about sex?"

"If you give me a chance, you and I have can have much more than a conversation." Matt winked.

"Please! I'm too much woman for you." Gudrun said in a dismissive tone, but her scowl didn't quite reach her eyes and Harry knew she wasn't offended by Matt's 'indecent proposal'. In fact, it was no secret that Matt had been trying seduce her ever since he'd got to the Citadel. It was always the same old story between those two. On a very basic level, their bickering wasn't unlike Ron and Hermione's in the early months of their relationship and Harry wondered whether this bickering might actually be a kind of foreplay. But he deemed it unlikely that Matt and Gudrun would ever become a couple, like Ron and Hermione had. They were both too different, and too much alike. Even if there were a spark between them, they wouldn't be able to stand each other for very long. Besides, to Matt, it was more about the chase than the actual capture. Once he had succeeded in seducing a girl, he would then lose interest very quickly. 

The same went for Gudrun, Harry knew. He'd discovered that little tidbit a week ago, when he'd noticed that Ginny had been wearing a pair of large socks that couldn't possibly be hers. After having sworn to Ginny that he wouldn't tell another soul, she'd told him that she'd borrowed them from Gudrun, and proceeded to tell him about Gudrun's trophy collection of socks. The Icelandic witch had the odd habit of keeping the socks of all the men she'd been with. Even though he'd known about Gudrun's apparent appetite for men, the sheer number of socks had still shocked him, and he'd suddenly found himself agreeing with Ron about whether Gudrun was a suitable role model for Ginny.

On the other hand, there was that thing Gudrun had told Hermione about ... Gudrun's little sister, the reason behind Gudrun's aversion to attaching herself to men emotionally, and partially, her fondness of Ginny. He and Wolfe had been invisible outside Ginny's room when he had heard the exchange. He wondered if Ginny knew about Gudrun's sister.

"Been waiting for me, love?" Ginny asked, bringing his attention back towards the present as she sat down on his lap.

Actually, that was why he'd been hanging out in the mess hall. He'd known that Ginny and Gudrun would drop by after their shifts had ended. "For an eternity!" he said, wincing as he realised that it must have sounded pretty corny. But corny or not, Ginny's face lit up nicely, and Harry was rewarded with a soul-searing kiss that made him lose awareness of everything except him and Ginny. 

When they finally broke apart, Matt, Gavin and Gudrun were whistling and catcalling, while Ron's face was contorting into all sorts of shapes as he tried to figure out what expression to wear. Even after all this time, Ron still wasn't used to seeing Harry and Ginny snogging each other senseless, as he called it. 

Ron didn't have time to say or do anything about it though, because after a delighted squeal, a bushy-haired blur jumped onto his own lap and began to kiss him savagely. Hermione had worked the second shift too, and she was clearly eager to show Ron how much she'd missed him.

"Well...not a light-show like Harry and Ginny's, but it was still a pretty hot kiss!" Gudrun said, jumping at the unique opportunity to tease both couples. Ron and Ginny blushed like only the Weasleys could, while Hermione turned a nice shade of pink. 

Harry felt his own face warm up. "Did we glow again?"

"Yep!" Matt grinned. "You know, since your quarters are right next to mine, you might want to give me a heads you whenever you two decide to get down to the serious stuff. If kissing makes you glow, imagine what-"

"You're upsetting Ron, Matt!" Gudrun grinned, and as Harry looked at Ron, he saw that Ron was definitely uncomfortable with the thought of his baby sister having sex. In fact, Harry was a bit apprehensive about the situation as well, even though he didn't have a clue why. He hadn't had these feelings with his earlier romantic entanglements...Heidi and Carey...

*

"Hey, if they start going at it and the ceiling begins to cave in, I need to be prepared." Matt laughed, embarrassing Ginny even more. 

She looked at Harry and saw his briefly carefree expression cloud over again. The past three weeks had been absolutely heavenly, but there had been these awkward moments in which this very expression had crept onto his face. It had always come when they the subject matter of their conversations turned to the fact that she wouldn't be his first. It had bothered her at first, but then she realised that Harry truly loved her like he loved no other. And secure in that knowledge, it hadn't bothered her anymore.

But maybe something about that was bothering him. She decided to ask him about it at the earliest possible opportunity, because the recent flourishing of their relationship had mainly been thanks to improved communication. It also seemed like she had reached an unspoken understanding with Heidi about Harry. They hadn't talked things through like Harry would have liked her to, but that had to wait for a more appropriate time. The hatchet wasn't buried yet, but at least they weren't at each other's throats anymore. She cast about in her mind for an appropriate topic. "Ron, how was your first field mission?"

"Whaaa-?" Ron frowned, after reluctantly breaking his kiss with Hermione.

Ginny rolled her eyes. "You know, the reason you went on a ten-day trip...the mission!" 

"Oh...That! It went okay, I guess. No sign of the African Mind Reader, though. We searched for her as well...secondary objective. I reckon she's been taken too, like the Japanese one." Ron frowned. "Speaking of Japan, how's that going?"

"Haven't given it as much thought as I should have," Harry said wearily.

Ginny instantly knew what the reason behind this was, as did Ron, Hermione and probably everyone else at the table. "You've got a lot on your mind, haven't you?"

"Max!" Hermione said quietly, answering the question.

"I've been thinking," -Ron ran a hand through his red hair, which he'd been growing out, much like Bill had done in his younger years-"Wolfe could've waited for at least Captain Faust to get back. After all, he was entitled to a representative from the Combat Division. But he didn't, and I can't shake the feeling that he did it on purpose."

Ginny gave Ron a quizzical look. No matter how hard she tried, she couldn't see the logic in Ron's words. "Why would he do that?" 

"Bear with me. Captain Faust and a whole lot of other people disagreed with Wolfe's punishment. By hurrying the process along, Wolfe took away the chance for them to mount any significant resistance...resistance that could've torn a rift in the Order's ranks. I mean, I wasn't there when you discovered Harry—the Speculum Demon, I mean. But I did sense the tension it caused—you know—whether or not it was worth bringing him in alive."

"Wow, that hadn't occurred to me, but it certainly makes sense," Gavin Carey said. "In fact, it would be just like him to do something like this."

"Sacrificing his own well-being for that of the Order." Gudrun sighed. "If the Order's command system were to shut down because of internal disagreement, no matter how briefly, lots of innocent people who otherwise would have received our help would suffer in that period."

"Precisely." Ron nodded. "And I bet he did it to prevent this from happening."

"It's not fair," Harry muttered grimly, and Ginny felt the pressure on her hand increase. "This is just like if I would have been expelled for saving Ginny's life and destroying Riddle and his basilisk."

At the mention of those words, Ginny remembered her moments with Riddle, those terrible moments, which at the time she had been sure would be her last. But then Harry had come and saved her. The fact that she had never repaid that debt bothered her slightly, and gently stroking his arm reassuringly, she silently vowed to find way to repay him, somehow. All she could do now was be there for him.

"I see what you're getting at, Harry." Ron sighed. "But it isn't as black and white as that. "It isn't as if we've killed Lockhart in exchange for Ginny's life...That is the crux of the matter. The clone!"

"Either way, I think sending him to Azkaban was over the top," Matt Kelly said.

"Who has been sent to Azkaban?" a raspy voice asked.

Everyone looked at the entrance. Even the late First Ranger would have been a spring chicken compared to this man. His silvery-grey hair was styled eccentrically, and his long, flowing grey beard had a few braids woven into it. Despite his age, this man shone with a superhuman vitality that few wizards had. He lit his pipe nonchalantly, and Ginny recognised this grey-clad figure immediately.

"Aberforth Dumbledore!" Harry exclaimed and lifting Ginny off his lap. Then he rushed over to the old man and engulfed him in a hug. "It's so good to see you! What are you doing here? You can't wander the halls of the Citadel by yourself. You're not allowed-"

"Actually, Aberforth used to be a Ranger, Harry, and so was Professor Dumbledore, but he resigned after two years of service, although the register didn't say why... Goodness, didn't you know?" Hermione asked exasperatedly. "Anyway, having been a Ranger, he's allowed to roam the Citadel freely, after having been properly screened, of course."

Harry looked at the ancient wizard, and then back at Hermione. "How did you find out...how long have you known?"

"I didn't have anything better to do on a rainy afternoon last month, and I decided to look through the old archives to see if any names of the previous Rangers rang any bells. I was going to tell you, but it slipped my mind." Hermione shrugged.

Ginny didn't blame her. They had been much too preoccupied with other issues, and she could completely understand how Hermione had forgotten to mention this. Professor Dumbledore and Aberforth, both former Rangers...who would have thought it possible? She cleared her throat. "Mr Dumbledore? What brings you here?"

"Mr Dumbledore? Please…you're making me feel old! I've still got a good fifteen years left in me, thank you very much!" Aberforth laughed heartily. But his face took on a much more serious expression after his laughter had died down. "I'm here to visit Anita's grave—The Ranger Prime!" he clarified, reacting to their vacant expressions upon mentioning the late Ranger Prime by her first name. "I remember her very first day at the Citadel, a very frail and unsure thing, she was. Who would've thought that she'd become the Ranger Prime?" he muttered, seemingly as an afterthought and shook his head. "That's the downside to Draconian blood, I guess. You survive all your friends."

Gavin gasped. "So it's true! Professor Dumbledore had Draconian blood!"

Ginny held her breath in astonishment. She had learned about this in her seventh year at Hogwarts, after Binns had touched on the subject but refused to go deeper into such vague myths! So she had read up on the subject of her own accord. There was a myth about a great magical society that had existed in ancient times, and had ceased to exist quite a long time ago as well. A society that had consisted of wizards, immortal magical beings, and their half-caste offspring, which retained some of their immortal parents' traits. According to legend, they lived in a huge city in the clouds, like the Veela palace in Concordia, but much larger. At some point in that city's estimated three thousand-year history, the beings chose to leave for parts unknown, leaving behind the half-castes. As their blood thinned, they lost more and more of the specific magic of their ancestors and were unable to keep the city aloft. Allegedly, it crashed into the Atlantic Ocean after its inhabitants had deserted it. The name, Draconian, came from the story that the city had a guardian...magical myth experts still couldn't agree on whether that guardian was a mascot or something of a patron deity. But it was clear, from Minoan and Egyptian texts, that it was called the Celestial Serpent or Divine Dragon. Much later, in translations to Latin, in which serpent and dragon had the same name, these supposed descendants of that ancient magical civilisation were named Draconians, for the sake of simplicity. And these people supposedly had extremely long life spans. 

She gave Aberforth a once-over. If her memory served her correctly, he was between one hundred and forty, and one hundred and fifty years old, way beyond the average wizarding life span of one hundred and twenty-one. She had always wondered why the Dumbledores had been so old. Now she had her answer.

"Wicked." Matt Kelly grinned. "A real Draconian!"

Ginny smiled down at Harry, who looked baffled and shook his head. "You're just full of surprises, aren't you? Come to think of it, it explains quite a bit." A look of disappointment crossed over his face. "I reckon you won't be staying very long, then?"

"Well, it just so happens that I have other business here as well," Aberforth said, as he magicked another seat to the table. "Some dunderhead broke the Mirror of Erised, and I've been called over to restore it." Not noticing Ginny's blush and the amused glances cast in her direction, the old wizard continued, "It'll take a lot of time and a lot of complicated spells to do it, though, and I'm one of the last wizards who knows how to do it. I reckon it'll be a good idea to have a younger wizard or witch assist me, so I can pass on the knowledge."

"I'll ask if I can do it!" Ginny said quickly, eager for a chance to personally fix the damage she'd done.

"That would be wonderful," Aberforth said. "And who knows, I may just stick around and return to service. I don't really have anything better to do right now and it'll be a nice opportunity to see what all the artificers who came after me have accomplished. It beats spending time with all those nitwits who don't believe my insanity was an act."

Ginny nodded sympathetically. For a long time, it had been rumoured that Aberforth Dumbledore was an illiterate idiot, but in the end it had turned out that this had been deliberate deception from the Dumbledore brothers. Aberforth had merely been one of his brother's aces in the hole. Unfortunately, there were a lot of dense wizards who had failed to realise the truth...that Aberforth was nearly as great a wizard as his brother had been.

Aberforth took a long drag from his pipe and blew a little smoke out of his mouth, forming a ring. Then Aberforth released the rest of the smoke, which took the shape of an old sailing ship that surged through the smoke ring. He chuckled at the awed expressions around him and smiled at Ginny. "This is your brother's newest invention, the Shaping Smoker. You can buy a charmed pipe at Zonko's and any other shop of the chain, or you can pay an extra fee for which your own pipe will be modified with the appropriate charms. All you have to do is picture the shape you want in your mind's eye as you inhale."

"Blimey, where does that brother of ours come up with this stuff?" Ron laughed.

"I'm not sure this product is suitable." Hermione frowned. "It encourages children to smoke."

"Don't worry. He's thought of that." Aberforth assured Hermione with an amused grin. "Decided to apply the same measures Albus did, to keep young ones from putting their names in the Goblet of Fire. All the products that are meant for grownups are kept in a part of the shop that's protected by an age line, and the Smokes are kept way in the back."

Ron and Harry laughed, while Hermione explained to the others how Fred and George had tried to cross a magical age line with the help of an ageing potion, and how they'd grown funny beards as a result. They soon joined the laughter.

"Sounds like just the thing George would do," Gavin guffawed. "I often caught him and Fred sneaking around quite a bit in their first year, and Filch did too. But I never caught them after that. Those boys probably learned from their mistakes quickly and they must've found a way to evade us."

Ginny smiled, remembering that Gavin had been prefect in Fred and George's first year, and Head Boy in their second. In the Christmas holiday of the twins' first year, she remembered their complaints about the really sharp prefect that kept catching them, while Percy droned on about trying to earn as many O.W.L's as Gavin had. Later on, Fred and George had probably managed to outsmart Gavin because they must have found the legendary Marauders Map by then. She looked down at Harry and found him looking back at her, grinning mischievously.

"Yeah, Fred and George were very resourceful when it came to mischief," Ron said, as he and Hermione exchanged knowing looks with Harry and Ginny. 

"Too bad Fred isn't alive to witness the success of his ideas," Harry said with a constricted sounding voice, his face clouding over once more. He had more trouble dealing with the deaths of Fred and her father, than she and Ron had. She still felt the occasional pang of grief, but the look in Harry's eyes told her that he still held himself responsible. He had confided to her in her fifth year how he felt that all those deaths after Voldemort's resurrection were his fault. Ginny knew that personally ending Voldemort's reign of terror had done nothing to put those feelings to rest, and now she found herself wishing more than ever that she hadn't abandoned Harry when he'd needed her the most.

"He wouldn't have wanted you to dwell on this, you know?" she whispered.

"I can't help it." Harry sighed.

Ginny wrapped her arms around him and drew him close, kissing the crown of his head. She'd help him through this!

"Peculiar tobacco," Gudrun said, after sniffing the air.

"Longbottom Leaf!" Aberforth answered. "It's a regular pipe-weed hybridised with miraculum weed. It's not very common on the market yet, but I know the young wizard who was part of the joint venture of herbologists who purchased a sample of the weed for research."

"Longbottom Leaf? Neville?" Ginny asked. 

Aberforth nodded and blew another shape in the sky. "The weed isn't harmful to the lungs. In fact, it cures bronchitis, among other things. It's a bit addictive, however, and too much will cause hair to grow on your tongue."

"Can I have a drag?" Gudrun asked eagerly.

Aberforth smiled and passed the pipe. "So, who's been sent to Azkaban? I heard you talking about someone having been sent to Azkaban... Oh, I'm sorry if I said anything wrong?" he added, as his words were met with a painful silence. 

Then, Ron, occasionally aided by Hermione, began to explain exactly what had happened with Harry and Ginny, how Wolfe had fixed it and what price he'd had to pay.

Aberforth's ancient features were lined with worry after he was finished hearing the story. "Do any of you know where the Commander is now?" he asked abruptly. 

"Asleep in her quarters, I guess," Hermione ventured. "Why?"

"Because sending him to Azkaban was the worst decision she could have made!" he exploded. "Aren't the Rangers taught anything about Dementors anymore? They're not the mindless soul-sucking fiends many people make them out to be. Not only are they capable of rational thought, they are extremely intelligent and once they've met a certain individual, they never forget his essence...like bloodhounds that never forget a scent. What Barty Crouch said about how his father had smuggled him out of Azkaban, how the Dementors couldn't tell the difference between on dying person and another dying person was nonsense! He believed it himself, obviously. Maybe that's what his father told him. But it wasn't true. I reckon Crouch Sr. struck some sort of deal with them. Albus suspected it too, but since Crouch Sr. was already dead at that moment, it was a moot point."

Ginny's mouth fell open in shock. Of course! Why hadn't she thought of this before? It had to be how Dementors tracked down escaped convicts. The fact that he could change into an animal...a being less distinctive and complex had enabled Sirius to throw the Dementors off.

"I've followed Max Wolfe's life ever since he was taken in by Lei Li. From the moment Albus and I saw him, we could feel that he had the potential to become one of the greatest wizards of the age. We fully anticipated that he'd become a Ranger, like so many of his ancestors. My point is, I know how many Dementors he destroyed in the war, and I know that some Dementors managed to get away. If one of those Dementors resides in Azkaban and passes by Max's cell—"

"That's not possible...they wouldn't!" Ron squeaked, looking so pale that his freckles stood out vividly against his skin. "They know that we'd bombard Azkaban with Patronus bombs if they dared to do that."

"Oh, God!" Hermione cried. "Ron, Aberforth is right. They'd suck out his soul, not even caring about retaliation from us. It is said that Dementors don't view existence as we do, and that they don't fear their own destruction."

"But why wouldn't we stamp 'em out if they killed Wolfe?" Harry asked with a shaky voice.

"We can't destroy any of the remaining Dementors, because that wouldn't leave enough of them to guard the prison. And while they're not pretty, they're considered necessary. The International Confederation of Wizards provides a large and indispensable part of out funding, and if we were to destroy the Dementors, they wouldn't be very happy about that. They would pull our funding. That would be the end of the Order!"

"Accurate assessment, Hermione," Aberforth said.

"We have to go fetch him from Azkaban, then!" Harry said urgently.

"Absolutely. We can only hope that we're not too late."

*

Aberforth banged on the door of Commander Nomvete's quarters, prompting the appearance of a very disgruntled looking witch in a nightdress. "What's the emergency...who are you?" she asked, eyeing Aberforth curiously.

"Aberforth Dumbledore," the ancient wizard replied tersely. "Are you aware that it's very likely that you sent one of your Rangers to his death? No? Well let me enlighten you!" Aberforth said, shoving her out of the way as he strode into her room. 

Harry exchanged glances with Ron and Matt, who had chosen to follow Aberforth to Nomvete's quarters, and cautiously entered the room too. Ginny and Gudrun had returned to the maintenance bay to prep an available Cruiser for imminent departure, with or without the Commander's consent, while Hermione and Gavin had gone to the town house to carefully break the news to Galatea.

Glancing around the room, Harry noticed the odd decoration of the room. The words 'old spinster' jumped to his mind. He knew she had never married, and according to the gossip exchanged by the female Rangers, it was because she'd vowed never to marry after the man she'd wanted married another. That man was never mentioned by name, but everyone knew that Commander Nomvete carried a torch for Commander Ironheart. Not surprising, really, since his dazzling smile had even caused Ginny to swoon once.

"What do you mean, and you can't just barge-"

"Shut up and listen! I used to hold your rank and I retired when you were still wiping the snot off your nose. I've forgotten more than you have learned so far."

"The Order has evolved in your absence, sir," Nomvete said irritably.

"Evolved?" Aberforth muttered sarcastically. "Is that what you call it? These young ones have told me why you sent Maximilian Wolfe to Azkaban. As you must have assumed by now, I disagree. And I'll tell you why!" He raised his finger to forestall any reply. "First, allow me to check if the virtues in the Ranger Code have changed in my absence.

"Prowess: to seek excellence in all endeavours expected of a Ranger, martial and otherwise, seeking strength to be used in the service of justice, rather than in personal aggrandisement." Aberforth took a calming breath. "I've followed Maximilian throughout his life, and he's perhaps the most dedicated Ranger I've ever seen, always driving himself to become better and stronger. Partially, this was due to his sense of ego, but as we both know, his main reason was to increase his ability to defend those he cared about... But he was punished for it.

"Courage: being a Ranger often means choosing the more difficult path, the personally expensive one. Be prepared to make personal sacrifices in service of the precepts and people you value. Maximilian did exactly that! He had _everything_ to lose! A loving woman with a baby on the way...the only real happiness he's ever known. He gave it up, and he was punished for it!

"Defense: the ideal Ranger was sworn by oath to defend those who depended upon him. He defended Harry Potter and Ginny Weasley from death. Why? That brings me to my next point.

"Loyalty: be known for unwavering commitment to the people and ideals you choose to live by. There are many places where compromise is expected; loyalty is not amongst them... But he was punished for it.

"Nobility: seek great stature of character by holding to the virtues and duties of a Ranger, realising though the ideals cannot be reached, the quality of striving towards them ennobles the spirit, growing the character from dust toward the heavens. Nobility also has the tendency to influence others, offering a compelling example of what can be done in the service of rightness. Max represented this particular virtue like no other, save maybe Harry, here. Yet you, Commander, interpreted his nobility as anarchism and egotism. You chose to make a bad example of Max to prevent others from following his example!

"Faith: a Ranger must have faith in his beliefs, for faith roots him and gives hope against the despair that human failings create. He had faith in you, Commander, and faith in the Order, for he didn't run after breaking the rules. He remained to face up to his deeds. _But_-_he_-_was_-_punished_-_for_-_it_!" Aberforth hissed between clenched teeth, accentuating every word of that last sentence.

"And lastly, justice: seek always the path of 'right,' unencumbered by bias or personal interest. Recognize that the sword of justice can be a terrible thing, so it must be tempered by humanity and mercy. You didn't uphold justice, Commander. You merely enforced the rules and interpreted the code in a very questionable way. I understand your concern about other young Rangers trying to emulate Maximilian's behaviour and rationalising that they too would do it for a good cause while it wouldn't be the case. But punishing _him_ for it was wrong. It was _unjust_!

"I also know about Lei Li's diary and some of the information it contained. Unlike you, I can't hold it against him that he chose not to reveal the information, after Lei had asked him not to. He was merely showing loyalty to his mentor."

"Loyalty to the Order comes first," Nomvete argued.

"Not if the Order is hopelessly lost, as it seems to be!" Aberforth bellowed, and everybody in the room flinched.

"But the clone-" she sputtered.

"Was less than cattle...less than even some plants. It had no sentience whatsoever. You said he shouldn't have killed it to save two lives, but cattle are slaughtered and plants cut down or uprooted daily to keep people alive. But I haven't even mentioned your worst mistake yet, Commander.

"The greatest mistake was sending Maximilian to Azkaban. You see, Dementors have very keen memories when it comes to the essences of those they've been in contact with. He's destroyed countless Dementors. If even one of those who got away is in Azkaban, there is a chance that Max would have been recognised by now, and we both know what that means. I take it that you do agree with me about on the issue that his actions, which in my humble opinion weren't even transgressions, did not merit a death sentence!"

Commander Nomvete got a horrified look on her face, as the enormity of her blunder became apparent. "Is...t-that...t-t-true? About the memory for essences?"

"Unfortunately, yes," Aberforth said gravely. "Now then, I assume you have no objection if we borrow one of the ships to fetch Max? Or his _remains_..."

Not even waiting for an answer, Aberforth whipped around and swept out of the office beckoning for Harry and the others to follow him.

*

"Mummy, you told me that uncle Max went away on the mission. Why did you lie to me, mummy? Why did Uncle Max go to prison? Has he been bad?"

The scene before her was simply heartrending. Apparently Ron had surreptitiously activated the broadcaster next to the door in Commander Nomvete's quarters, enabling the whole Citadel to listen in on Aberforth's lecture. Charlie had heard their conversation too, and Jasmine was at a loss for explanations.

"No, sweetie, Max didn't do anything wrong."

"Then why did he have to go to prison?"

Why indeed? Ginny thought bitterly, her eyes tearing up. Max could be dead... She glanced over to Galatea, who was looking more frightened than ever. Ginny didn't even want to think about the consequences for Galatea. There was a good chance that she'd simply waste away with grief, and she knew she was going to have to be by Galatea's side day and night if the Dementors had done their worst. "Grownups do dumb things sometimes," Ginny said. "Sending Wolfe to prison was a dumb mistake."

"So he didn't do anything wrong?"

"No."

"And he's coming back now?" Charlie asked, his little face lighting up with hope.

"Yes," Ginny said softly. Of course, the question was whether or not he was still alive. Ron, Harry, Aberforth, Matt, Gavin and Gudrun had left for Azkaban immediately, and since it was going to be a return trip done in Portkey-mode, they wouldn't be in insecurity much longer. They just had to get off and find Max and could be coming back at any time.

Ginny ran her finger over a wrist-Portkey. She'd use it to go to the maintenance bay the moment the Cruiser returned. Even though she dreaded one of the possibilities, she had to know as soon as possible.

The broadcaster surged to life. " The Zephyrus is back."

Ginny immediately activated her Portkey and was transported to her destination in a heartbeat. In the bay, she was briefly disoriented, and wildly looked around. She noticed the Cruiser was right on top of her, and she instinctively dropped flat on her stomach. The Cruiser however, was still a good ten feet in the air, so she hadn't been in any real danger. She frowned and checked the markings on the floor. She was still within the safe zone of the bay, a zone that lay outside the hover path of the Cruisers. It had to be someone other than Gudrun at the helm, because Gudrun was an excellent Cruiser pilot and she wouldn't have glided out of bounds. Ginny silently cursed the inept pilot...probably Matt Kelly, as the Cruiser backed up and landed in its designated spot. She scrambled to the rear of the Cruiser to wait for the loading ramp to come down, which seemed to take an eternity. Then finally, it slowly descended, revealing several figures standing in the shadows. Harry, clearly the shortest figure, stepped out of the shadows and into the light of the maintenance bay. To Ginny, his green eyes looked like closed shutters that couldn't quite trap all the light of pain behind them. She knew then, that Max Wolfe was dead.

***

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Gogirl: Don't worry. Carey won't be returning.

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Blue Roses: I can't kill Harry, because he's 'the man', and I can't kill Hermione, Ron or Ginny either. Wolfe is another matter, though. As one of my characters, he's expendable. It wasn't an easy decision, but it adds more drama to the plot.

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LaminaCourt: Well, you can't get away with _everything_, at least, not in my opinion. I'm not going to discuss temporal mechanics right now, but I believe there are some things that are just too ludicrous to be a good explanation. I used a situation slightly adapted from J.K. Rowling's, in PoA.

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rowan: You have no idea how happy I am to hear that. I've been working very hard to make this story better than EaL.

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Nosgoroth: There will be many more goblin/Ferengimoments throughout the story.

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Ruskbyte: Glad you liked the cameo. Maybe we'll see more of him and Heather in the future. As for Wolfe's luck, well, it had to run out someday.

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Nox: I think some of my answers to other people's questions have answered yours now.

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SiriDragon: Yes, I like him too. :-(

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Casual Reader: Well, this isn't a cliffie either. But poor Wolfe? What about poor Galatea? 

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Petals: Okay, so you don't like Heidi. And yes, she does make the H/G ship rocky. That's her purpose of existence. And Ngueyen is a common Vietnamese name.

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Maab: Yes, Galatea is soooo nice, smart, caring, beautiful and completely devoted to her friends, and especially Max. She's nearly a Mary Sue. LOL. Anyway, the accuracy of the Japanese stuff is completely my beta-reader Christine's doing. She deserves a lot of credit too.

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RogueAngel: Glad my story helps to improve your quality of life a bit. 

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Jayce: THANKS!

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nycgal: I hope I didn't disappoint you. I couldn't wait for your OK any longer since I promised to update before Christmas.

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kateydidnt: Ironheart's otherwise preoccupied with a really important mission.

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Saerry Snape: You can expect the next chapter in two weeks. It's a conservative estimate, but I can't count on my betas having time for me. 

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musicgirl225: Thank you for the review. Hopefully I'll see more of those. And don't hesitate to alert me when you've got more poems to share.

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Lana Riddle: Wow, three reviews. Well, you've prevented my review average from dropping, so thanks. :-) You know, I don't think I've ever thanked you for being my very first reviewer. You've encouraged me when my ego was very fragile, and I can't thank you enough.

*Happy holidays, and best wishes for the New Year*


	8. About a Ranger

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Disclaimer: This chapter contains some quotes, nearly literally borrowed from Michael J. Straczynski's Babylon 5

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Author's Note: Enjoy this chapter, which contains some more revelations.

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About a Ranger

Chapter 8

The body had still been warm when Ron and Matt brought it to the Cruiser. They had been mere moments too late. If only Harry had known, he'd never have allowed them to send Wolfe to Azkaban. If only…but he hadn't. 

"…we commend the soul of our brotherdeparted, and we commit hisbody to the ground; earth to earth, ashes to ashes, dust to dust…" The priestess droned on, although nobody seemed to be listening. 

Galatea's beautiful deep-blue eyes lacked that enchanting spark they usually held. The dark crescents under them hinted at her sleepless nights. Gudrun, who had dyed her hair black in mourning, and Heidi held onto Galatea tightly, since she swayed on her feet unsteadily at times. Along with Ginny, Hermione, and Lilia, they had made sure that Galatea had never been alone for the past three days, during which she'd cried ceaselessly.

A tearful Jasmine and Charlie stood closer to Ron, Hermione, and Wolfe's relatives. Long and Mei, Wolfe's great aunt and uncle, Tempeste Louvel, his paternal grandmother, Elena Ironheart, the Commander's youngest daughter, who had been the only one to accept Wolfe wholeheartedly, and her nine-year-old son Nicolai, Wolfe's first cousin. Commander Ironheart still hadn't returned from the mysterious mission he'd been sent on, and Harry wondered what on earth could be important enough to make him miss his own grandson's funeral.

About a dozen or so Rangers were also there. Captain Faust and his wife, who for the sake of simplicity was still called Lieutenant Cliff. The Kelly brothers, Helga, Lilia, Gavin, and a handful of older Rangers Harry didn't know very well. He guessed that Khan and Mordecai would have been there too if they hadn't been assigned to watch Commander Ironheart's back.

Lastly, Aberforth was standing at a slight distance from the other guests, regarding them from under the brim of his floppy grey wizarding hat that obscured his eyes. He was leaning on heavily on his staff.

Harry stroked Ginny's hair softly and lowered his face to her head, seeking comfort with her soothing and familiar scent. The reason they were standing there, he knew, was owing to Wolfe's sacrifice. If Wolfe hadn't made that sacrifice, they'd both be dead and he'd be alive. Despite all the things he'd been told over the past few days, every time that thought crossed his mind, he only felt worse.

Most of the Rangers left shortly after the ritual's end. Gudrun and Heidi guided Galatea away from the grave after she'd placed an object on the headstone. It glinted in the weak sunlight and Harry recognised the tear shaped pendant. Wolfe had given it to Galatea after they had finally admitted their feelings to each other. Jasmine stepped forward and removed her necklace as well, placing it beside its twin. Harry guessed she didn't want to wear it anymore, now that _her_ twin was dead. 

"Potter?"

"Yes, Captain?" Harry replied, doubting that anything Faust could say would make him feel better.

"I was wondering if you, Ms Granger and Mr Weasley could come to my house at about eight…and you too, Ms Weasley," Faust added, looking at Ginny.

"What for?" Harry asked.

"It's a bit complicated."

"Well, I'd like to, but I really can't. The new recruits need training."

"I know, and I've already found you a substitute."

"Eight?"

Faust nodded.

"All right, then," Harry agreed.

"What was that all about?" Ginny asked, after the officers had left.

"I thought you might know, because I really haven't got a clue."

Wolfe's relatives were leaving too, and Ron and Hermione, also getting ready to leave, looked at him. "Ginny, why don't you go with Ron? I have to say goodbye to Wolfe."

"Will you be all right?" Ginny asked, concerned.

"Yeah," Harry said quickly, although it depended on what she meant. If she wondered whether he'd lose his composure, he wouldn't. But whether he'd ever forgive himself was another matter.

Ginny clearly didn't believe him, but she yielded to his wishes and joined Ron and Hermione. Then he stepped closer to the grave and tried to sort out his thoughts.

"You have to let go," Aberforth, who had been ever present in his peripheral vision, said.

"How can I?" Harry sighed. "I can't work out why he did it, why he threw everything away like that…why he had to die like that, for nothing."

"He didn't die for nothing. He died for you and Ginny."

"But why throw his life away?" Harry said quietly, quickly wiping away a tear that had managed to escape. He couldn't be seen crying like that. Wolfe wouldn't have.

"You think he threw his life away? That his death didn't have meaning?" Aberforth asked. 

"He died among the scum of the wizarding world, believing that he was a disgrace. He didn't even have the opportunity to die whilst making a difference…to die in the line of duty, like a Ranger."

Aberforth said nothing for a good five minutes, and Harry looked up to check if he was still there. Then he finally spoke. "If someone told you to climb a mountain and bring him a flower from the highest point and you would die after completing your task—Would that be meaningless?"

"Of course, it's trivial," Harry said. What would be the point of doing such a thing, after all?

"And if there were thousands of people waiting at the base of the mountain for whom that one flower was a symbol of their freedom and they would follow that symbol in a struggle that would liberate a million souls. Would that have a meaning?"

"You're not going to tell me I'm special, are you?" Harry groaned, seeing where Aberforth was going. "I'm nothing special. Before he was shipped off to Azkaban, Wolfe told me that he thought I would've done the same for him if the situation had been reversed. But he was wrong." Harry didn't think he would have been able to give up his new found happiness with Ginny, like Wolfe had done with Galatea and his unborn child.

"Wouldn't you?" Aberforth laughed softly, as if Harry were some schoolboy who didn't know himself. It was a peculiarly disconcerting sound. "Then why did you risk your life to go back for him in India?"

"At the time I thought I had nothing to lose because my loved ones hated me. I thought I had no future. I don't think I can ever live up to Wolfe's expectations of me. I'm simply not that good a man."

"Aren't you? Then why did you oppose Voldemort while you were still eleven years old?"

"I was too stupid to realise how much danger I was in," Harry replied tersely.

"You could have joined him—knowing Voldemort, I'm sure he offered you a chance to join him. But you didn't."

"Yeah, well I—"

"You thought he was lying because he didn't strike you as the kind of chap who'd like to share his power?" Aberforth smiled. "You opposed him simply out of rage, because he'd killed your parents? No! You went to face him regardless of your own safety because you knew it was the right thing to do!"

"I didn't have any choice. I _had_ to fight him…he came after me first."

"There is always a choice, Harry. And you made the right one at the tender age of eleven. You hate yourself right now…I understand why. But you really shouldn't, Harry. You're a good man, and you and Ginny deserve the gift Wolfe gave you."

Harry shook his head. Wolfe hadn't deserved his fate. "That still doesn't take away the fact that Wolfe died believing that he'd disgraced himself."

"He didn't!" Aberforth said with conviction. "It is painfully obvious that some of the Rangers have strayed from the true path, but Max wasn't one of them. Being Rangers doesn't mean worrying about what others will think about us. It doesn't mean deciding what to do based upon whether or not it serves our sense of ego or destiny. It means living each moment as if it were your last one. It means doing each right thing because it is the right thing. The scale doesn't matter. The where, the when, the how, or in what cause ... none of those things matter.

"You said he shouldn't have died because of you. You think his death was meaningless because you 're nothing special. But you're wrong! You see, we _create _the meaning in our lives. It does not exist independently. In my life, I've discovered very few truths. Here is the greatest truth I know: your death, Harry, will have a meaning if it comes while you're in fullest pursuit of your heart."

As Harry mulled over those words, he realised that Aberforth was right. Wolfe had believed in him wholeheartedly. But there was still a question that nagged at the back of his mind. "Do you think he knew there was a chance that he wouldn't survive?"

"I'm sure he had his fears. But as Rangers, we choose to do that which frightens us, knowing that there are no guarantees. He knew he was making a huge gamble. You couldn't have helped him."

"He shouldn't have stood alone."

"At the end, Harry, we _all_ stand alone…" Aberforth's eyes nearly burst out of their sockets as they swept over the tombstone. "By my father's crooked nose, are those what I think they are?" He walked around the grave. "Good Lord, how did those girls get these?" he asked as he held up the two pendants.

"Oh, one of them used to belong to Wolfe, but he gave it to Galatea. And the other belonged to his twin sister."

"And they didn't know how special these are? Of course they didn't, otherwise they wouldn't have discarded them…" he muttered to himself as he pocketed them. "I always wondered what Albus did with these. Must've given them to…yes, of course."

"Hey, you can't just take those!" Harry frowned.

"I know they're not mine to take, but if you knew what these could do, you wouldn't leave them here either."

"What are they, then?"

"Draconian Pendants. These have been in my family for centuries. Albus inherited them, being the eldest. I guess he passed them on to his daughter."

"Professor Dumbledore had children?" Harry exclaimed. He'd simply never stopped to consider the possibility.

"Don't look so surprised." Aberforth chuckled. "Yes, he had one daughter, Stela, her name was. She was the spitting image of her mum, Bianca…a Muggle Roma woman. He met her in Romania and left the Order for her, because she wasn't allowed to enter Nomad Island, being a Muggle and all."

"I never knew he was married."

"He didn't exactly spread the word, because our parents weren't happy with his choice."

"Because she was a Muggle?"

"And a gypsy, and older than he was…thirty-three. You see, because of our lifespan we weren't really in a hurry, and our father wanted us to gain some life experience before settling down. Albus was only twenty-five." Aberforth sighed. "Then there's fact that she caused him leave the Order of Illumination…_that _didn't endear her to them either. She was also a bit of a scarlet woman, but she had a heart of gold, and she really did love Albus."

"She died a long time ago?"

"She lived to old age for a Muggle, especially in those days. She died in 1913."

"But Professor Dumbledore didn't live with her very long, did he?" Harry frowned. There weren't any records that indicated that he'd ever been married, so the only explanation was a break up, possibly earlier in life.

"You're right. They split up in 1872, after seven years together. Their daughter was two, at the time. She really tried to stay with Albus, but she was a drifter at heart, and he loved her too much to keep her with him even though she yearned to travel. They kept seeing each other about a dozen times a year though, so Albus go to see his daughter once in a while."

"Did she go to Hogwarts?" Harry asked, already guessing that this likely wasn't the case due to the absence of records on Stela Dumbledore.

"No, she didn't. You see, even at a very young age Stela could see things before they happened. She's a Diamond Seer."

Harry raised his eyebrows. The Sight, or the ability to tap into plain, which allowed a wizard to get glimpses of what might yet be, was relatively common among wizards. Roughly one in twenty wizards had it…mostly witches, because they seemed more sensitive to the occurrences on the mystical plane. Most of these were like Lavender Brown and Sybil Trelawney, who were classified Glass-Seers.

Next…and a great deal rarer, were the Emerald Seers. They had more accurate and more frequent premonitions than the Glass Seers. Lieutenant Cliff was one of the Emerald Seers. 

But the Diamond Seers were truly rare, and often only one or two existed at a time. The Oracle of Ogygia was the only one Harry knew of. He'd met her in his sixth year, when she came she'd come to visit Professor Dumbledore to tell him about a vision that ended up saving a lot of lives. He'd had tea with her and Professor Dumbledore, and in a very pleasant conversation she had explained to him that Ogygia Academy for Clairvoyants, located on the unplottable island Ogygia in the Ionian Sea, specialised in anything that had to do with divination. They were also better equipped than most other schools to teach students with other extrasensory gifts. The title, 'Oracle of Ogygia' was always given to the headmistress. "Like the Oracle of Ogygia?"

"She _is_ the Oracle of Ogygia, Harry." Aberforth smiled. "As I was saying, Albus recognised her potential and sent her to Ogygia, because they had a much better curriculum for pupils like her."

Harry smiled. He should have known. One thing he had noticed when he'd seen her, was that her nose was just like Professor Dumbledore's. "So she taught there after finishing her education?"

"Not immediately, no. She travelled around, plied her trade, doing readings for wealthy wizards who were too foolish to leave the future alone. She loved to be on the move…just like her mother. She met her husband when a good while later, just after her mother died. They had a lot in common, among other things, they were both much older than they appeared.

"Yes!" Aberforth nodded, leaning heavily on his staff, "He had Draconian blood too…through his mother's lineage. Maximilian van Ketel, he called himself. His surname was his mother's, because he didn't want to be associated with his father…a dark wizard who was quickly gaining power. A dark wizard named Grindelwald." Aberforth paused and gazed at Wolfe's Tombstone.

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Maximilian Donovan Wolfe

December 22, 1976 - October 6, 2001

Maximilian…it was a Latin name by origin, often used by Germans. The name 'van Ketel' sounded very familiar as well. He looked up at Aberforth, who was now staring at him intently, almost as if he were trying to tell Harry something. Then Harry's mind made the connection. Rudolf van Ketel was Wolfe's grandfather's name. Maximilian van Ketel…Maximilian Wolfe. It wasn't a coincidence! Wolfe had been Dumbledore's great-great grandson…and Grindelwald's as well. So that's why Aberforth and Professor Dumbledore had been so interested in Wolfe's life. "He was related to you?"

Aberforth shrugged. "Most purebloods have some common ancestors. I've always been interested in tracing bloodlines. It's a hobby of mine. Imagine my surprise when I found out I was related to Rita Skeeter," he chuckled. "Ah well, you know what they say. You can pick your friends, you can pick your nose, but you can't pick your relatives. But I digress… Ahem, now as I was saying, most purebloods in a certain region share common ancestors. Maximilian was related to you as well, Harry, albeit very distant…to the twelfth degree, I think." The old wizard turned to leave. "Why, if you go back far enough, you'd probably find a common ancestor with the Weasleys." 

Still stunned by the revelation, Harry had to force his legs to move to follow Aberforth. "Did you know that Maximilian van Ketel was Grindelwald's son?"

"He never kept it from Albus. He was a really good man, he opposed his own father fiercely while Albus passively looked on. That was my brother's main character flaw, he was too passive. He only decided to face Grindelwald after he'd killed his son and threatened to kill Stela as well…it took a threat to his immediate family to spur Albus into action." Aberforth frowned. "He also did it to prevent Rudolf from trying to avenge his father. He was already a promising and powerful young Ranger at the time, just like his grandfather and grandson had been."

Aberforth jammed his staff in the soft ground. "But I don't think he could have taken Grindelwald…yet. You know, Lei Li and Donovan Ironheart told me that he would have beaten Skaras, had it not been for his son-in-law getting in the way…he was _that_ powerful by then…

"Anyway, with a little help from me and the Rangers, Albus put an end to Grindelwald." 

"He killed Grindelwald?"

Aberforth shrugged. "I'm not sure how to answer that. The confrontation brought about Grindelwald's end, yes. But it was a complicated spell of Grindelwald's own making that consumed him."

Harry slowly shook his head as he attempted to digest all the information. "Wow, no wonder Wolfe was so powerful. With ancestors like his…"

"Ancestry isn't everything, as you know," Aberforth pointed out. "My research showed that the chances of squib offspring increase as the blood gets purer. In fact, wizards with a good bit of Muggle blood tend to be the most powerful ones." The old wizard glanced at his timepiece. "Oh, I'm running late. I've got a meeting with Commander Nomvete. I've got to persuade her not to resign!"

Harry's lip curled into a sneer. "Why would you want to do that?"

"She's a brilliant manager, Harry. But not so great a leader, I'm afraid. It seems like Ironheart was the one who took charge in times of crisis. I think he would have handled things differently if he'd actually been here. But he was preoccupied with his mission…"

Harry wondered if Aberforth wasn't telling him something. "Do you know what the mission's about?"

"I don't know the details…just that a being that was supposed to have vanished a long time ago has been sighted on several occasions. Ironheart was needed to verify whether or not the testimonies were true, and to draw images from memories whenever possible."

Harry decided to ask Captain Faust about it later. "Well, I hope you know what you're doing with Nomvete. I can't say I would be terribly disappointed if she chose to go."

"Her resignation would do the Order no good."

"Wouldn't it? Everybody is reluctant to follow her orders, especially after they heard you set her straight."

Aberforth frowned darkly. "Yes, I need to have a chat with Ronald about that. That was a foolish thing to do. It should have been solved behind closed doors. I know he was frustrated at the time, but undermining the authority of one's superior officers out of frustration is not is not a good thing. We were lucky that almost everybody agreed with my point of view in the matter. If they hadn't, things could have become nasty."

Harry had to admit to the truth in Aberforth's words. "I suppose you're right." It wouldn't be fair and just to blame Wolfe's death on Nomvete alone.

*

Both being officers, Captain Faust and Lieutenant Cliff could afford a nice house on the fifth level. Captain Faust had been waiting for them on a bench in front of the house, wearing a Rastafarian hat that looked ridiculous on him. He smiled under his moustache. "Welcome…you happen to be the first visitors to hour home. I wish the circumstances were a bit different. Please, come in."

Much to her own surprise, Hermione found that the odd combination of German and Jamaican decorations didn't clash. The only clashing thing in the house was Captain Faust wearing that hat. Hermione shot a glance at Ginny and saw that she had trouble keeping a straight face.

Faust waved his wand and muttered an incantation. A purple light flashed through the room and Hermione shielded her eyes while she waited for the glare to subside. She knew it was a kind of protective ward, although she didn't know which one.

"Well, that ought to keep our secrets our own," Faust said.

"What was that?" Ron asked. 

"If an officer chooses to live outside the Citadel, his home has to have several powerful wards on it, particularly wards that keep out spies."

"How does it work?"

"I only know its effect, and how to activate and deactivate it. It's very complicated, requiring several enchantments to complete. You'll have to ask one of the curse breakers if you want to know the details."

"So we're completely secure?"

"As secure as Docmor and Wortelgraaf can make us."

Ron nodded. "So it would be okay to ask you why Commander Ironheart didn't show turn up for Wolfe's funeral."

Hermione saw that Faust had a tough time deciding whether or not tell them about it, for he obviously knew. "Okay, but you can't discuss it outside the Citadel…" he said as he plopped down in a large easy-chair and gestured them to have a seat. Hermione, Harry and Ginny sat down on a sofa that could seat three, while Ron took another high-backed easy chair. "You know the legend of the Draconians, right?"

Hermione nodded, as did the others.

"Commander Ironheart set out on his mission after a Libyan witch claimed to have seen a Draconian, as did several Muggles," — Faust's words drew a gasp from Ron and Ginny — "But they mistook it for an angel. Commander Ironheart decided to look into the matter personally, since his gift could be very useful to check the statements from the witnesses without having to resort to truth potions and the like. We also want to keep the appearance of the Draconian under wraps."

"Why would the Muggles mistake Draconian for an angel?" Ron asked.

"Because Draconians were able to sprout angel-like wings at will to enable them to fly. At least, that what the book I read about it said," Ginny explained.

"Yes! The witch who saw the Draconian didn't know what it was. She merely described it as a winged spirit being…angelic wings. The wings provided us with its identity."

"Why is it taking so long for Commander Ironheart to find it?" Hermione frowned. "And why would you want to keep its appearance a secret?"

"We don't know where it's from, why it's here or what it wants. As long as we don't, it isn't prudent to reveal the existence of a being that vanished millennia ago, a being of strange and exotic power. Many evil organisations would hunt for it as well, trying to add it to their ranks. However, it doesn't seem like we have to worry about that just yet. She seems to be wary of contact and easily frightened. Ironheart already found her and approached her once, in Bombay. But she was startled by the noise of an aeroplane flying over and vanished. That's the reason why it's taking so long."

"It's a female, then!" Harry said.

Faust nodded. "Black hair and eyes, she wears a green dress…young woman."

"Right." Harry muttered, as his expression closed up. "Well, now we know why Commander Ironheart wasn't here for Wolfe's funeral," he added quickly. "But there was a reason you wanted to see _us_. So far _we_ have been asking all the questions."

The sudden change in Harry's mood was very odd. Hermione remembered Ginny telling her about those moments when Harry suddenly withdrew into himself for no apparent reason, but now she was seeing it herself. She made a mental note to ask him about it later, although she wasn't sure if he'd open up to her. She turned her attention to Faust, who produced a sealed letter.

"It's from Wolfe. This letter is addressed to the four of you, and its magical seal prevents anyone else from opening it. He explained it in a letter addressed to me. He left the letter here shortly before he travelled back in time. He also left a copy at Commander Ironheart's, in case he'd return sooner than I did."

"He broke into your house? How did he do that? Wouldn't the security charms keep him out?" Ginny asked.

"He knew the deactivation enchantment," Faust explained. "And the wards are set to recognise Rangers by their aura. Only Rangers can deactivate these wards. The wards were designed that way, in case of an emergency. I have no idea how he found out the proper incantation, though. I think Lei Li might have left a few clues on how to get restricted information, in that diary of his." The rotund German chuckled.

"What's the letter about?" Harry asked.

"Like I said, I couldn't have read your letter even if I'd wanted to. I suspect he'll talk about his reasons for doing what he did…I don't know. Your guess is as good as mine."

Hermione took the letter from Faust, and the moment she touched it, she felt as if she'd got a mild electric shock. A yellowish light briefly flashed over the seal.

"Ah, you broke the seal." Faust nodded. "I'll leave to give you all some privacy. Whatever is in that letter is obviously not for me to know." He got up from his chair and strolled out of the small living room.

Hermione carefully opened the letter, as Ron came to stand behind the sofa so he could read over their shoulders. She gave the letter to Harry, who sat in the middle, enabling Ginny to read the letter too.

__

Dear friends,

I am well aware of the possible consequences of what I'm about to do. If you read this letter, it means that I succeeded in my mission. I've instructed my grandfather and Captain Faust to give you this letter in case the consequences of my actions would have proven to be fatal.

Harry, I don't know if Ron and Hermione ever told you about this. If circumstances had been slightly different, you would have grown up being my little brother. I'm not going into details about that. You'll have to ask Master Lei himself. I instructed the Diary to come alive at your touch. It is now yours. I can't be sure where it'll be, but I reckon the commanding officers will want to know the source of my knowledge. I'm not going to lie to them, even if it leads to the confiscation of the diary. I think Commander Nomvete might keep it, or maybe they'll put it in the vaults. If you show this letter to my grandfather, I'm sure he'll pass the diary on to you. He might expect you to share Master Lei's secrets with him, however. But that's all right. You can trust him.

I've always admired you, kid. You have the potential to be even greater than you already are. With friends like yours, I'm sure you will be. If you want to continue your Japanese sword training, you should ask Sahid or Mayumi. And remember, you should charge more aggressively.

I reckon my actions have stirred up things quite a bit. I'm sure I rushed along my inevitable trial and judgement on purpose. In case you were wondering, I did this because I think many Rangers would sympathise with my motives, but the fact remains that what I did seriously undermines the authority of the commanding officers. I'm hoping for leniency, but I obviously didn't get it, since you're reading this letter. I wouldn't have lasted very long in Azkaban, since Dementors affect me worse than they do most wizards. I've seen my share of horrors, and my childhood wasn't the easiest. Still, I can't expect the officers to go easy on me because of it. I've chosen and acted, and I had to pay the price. But I won't dwell on this any longer.

Ron, I want to thank you for getting through to me. You impressed on me how much of an idiot I was, and you convinced me that freely loving Galatea would be worth it. Believe me, it was! When Galatea told me she was having my baby, when she consented to marry me, I felt happiness unlike any I've ever felt in my whole life. Please look after Galatea for me now…all of you. Ginny, Hermione, I know I can count on the two of you to give her the support she needs.

Hermione, little sister, you befriended me even though I did nothing to earn your friendship. You were there for me when I really needed a friend. You also deserve part of the credit for getting me together with Galatea. I know that you, Heidi and Gudrun tricked her into forgetting her angry feelings towards me. 

Ginny, you forgave me even though I deliberately let Malfoy take you. We've discussed my motivations, but even so, I had no reason to expect forgiveness. And look after Harry. Your love for him makes him much stronger.

This doesn't begin to mention all the things I want to say, but I don't have any more time.

Max.

Harry folded away the letter after a while, and they all remained in stunned silence until Ron finally managed to speak, albeit in a surprisingly strangled voice. "He knew…exactly…what he was doing."

It was like Ron had said. Max had anticipated the potential for disagreement within the Order and had taken steps to prevent it. Hermione shook her head. Ron's insight had been right on the mark.

"What did he mean about us growing up like brothers?" Harry asked hoarsely.

"Well, after he heard that you'd survived the Killing Curse, Lei wanted to start training you early. He thought it would have been the best way to have you reach your full potential," Ron said. "He even considered kidnapping you from the Dursleys. But the Ranger Prime caught wind of this and stopped him."

One of the doors to the living room opened a little, and Faust suck his head through the opening. "Sorry to interrupt—"

'That's all right, we were done," Harry said.

"Really? Well, would the four us you like to follow me up into the attic? Janice wants to see you. She's looking for her favourite Tarot deck. I think she wants to do a reading."

Hermione rolled her eyes. They didn't have time for that. "I don't think so."

Faust smirked. "Yes, I heard you're quite the sceptic when it comes to Divination. I assure you that my wife is much better at it than Sybil Trelawney. It was thanks to her that we got to Hogwarts in time, in June. Please indulge her. She made it sound quite urgent."

Hermione shrugged. It wasn't as if she had anything better to do.

"But I've got to go back to the Citadel for disciplinary duty," Ron said, reminding Hermione of the consequences of Ron's decision to broadcast Aberforth's tirade at Commander Nomvete all over the Citadel. He'd have to help rearrange tons and tons of files in addition to his regular duties, for two weeks. Hermione wasn't pleased with that, because it meant she'd have virtually no time together with him. Indirectly, she was being punished as well. It wasn't fair! She sighed, remembering that she could use her time without Ron to spend some more time with Galatea.

"I can postpone your punishment one more day," Faust said.

Hermione looked at Harry, who shrugged, and then at Ginny, who raised her eyebrows. "Well, what about you two?"

"Why not?" Harry said.

***

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The Millennium One: He's not going to pull a Harry.

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Eclectic Angel: I will indeed be interesting to see how Harry deals with it, which is why is removed Wolfe in the first place.

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Caitlin: Trust me, the mission is pretty important.

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musicgirl225: I'll do my best to illustrate Jasmine and Galatea's feelings on the matter. But since the story revolves around the quartet, I'm not sure how much 'screen time' they're going to get.

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SiriDragon: Yeah, Aberforth is cool. Just wait until he fights a Balrog…oh, wrong character. ;-)

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clifjumpr13: Well, you should know by now that I don't bring people back. If they reappear it means that I haven't killed them in the first place. ;-) And I won't complain about reviews anymore. Good point, about the original fics.

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Gogirl: How's your story coming along?

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psychochick: I think plenty of people hate me right now.

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Maab: I admit, I do feel a sadistic sort of pleasure from reading the reviews. But that's not why I do it.

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rowan:Wolfe was you favourite character? Wow, I never thought he'd be so well liked.

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pamela-potter-24: Well, I'm not going to focus on the guilt as such, but more on the consequences of Wolfe's departure on a broader scale.

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Ruskbyte: Aberforth _does_ like to tinker, being an artificer.

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jona: as you've read, Ironheart had been too busy to have done anything about it.

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Lana Riddle: I meant that you're the first one to have reviewed 'Existence after Life'.

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sherman: errrr???

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LaminaCourt: What can I say? Fate is a fickle bitch.

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Sorensen: I guess it comes down to the definition of expendable.

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Maverick Davis: I haven't even started with the angst. Mwahahaha!

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harry/ginny4eva: Why do you like him so much? Isn't he annoying sometimes? 

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Nosgoroth: I don't bluff.

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Petals: Thanks for the correction. Nguyen it was. My mistake. As for Dumbledore, as I read canon, I got the feeling that he's pretty old, even for wizards. But I've never seen any indication that he might be 150. As it is, in this story, he _just_ didn't reach 150, although he could have. I made Aberforth the younger brother, by a handful of years. So he isn't 150 yet either.

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Kathryn: Okay, so they say that Dementors eat souls. That doesn't mean that the body lives very long afterwards. And all _my_ characters are expendable. Doesn't mean that I'll kill 'em all, but it's the principle of the matter.

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Ginny1946: No sweat, review when you have time.

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Zennith: I don't know…I've had some pretty darned dumb ideas in my life. You're right about people coming back from the dead, but it isn't _that _they come back…it's the _how_!

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hpfania: Hey, finally someone who seems happy. Are you really happy, or did you just say that to be contrary.


	9. Natural Mystic

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Disclaimer: Oh, how I wish that everything were mine.

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Natural Mystic

Chapter 9

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Faust took them to the first floor and led them to a ladder that would take them into the attic. "This is where Janice does her Divination things." He grinned. "I don't go up there very much. Be careful on the ladder. The fourth step is a trick step."

Ron nodded and carefully climbed up the ladder. He pushed open the hatch and was met by loud music. Charlie happened to be a stone-cold ska fan, and while living with him, Ron had learned much about Muggle Jamaican music from the sixties and seventies.

There's a natural mystic blowing through the air

He looked around. It wasn't like Trelawney's old classroom at all. Several skylights bathed the room in light, and an open window allowed a cool October breeze to enter the room, blowing away the remaining bits of smoke the lingered in the room.

The scent brought back some memories of Dean Thomas. He'd smuggled a particular kind of weed product into Hogwarts in their sixth year, and dropped it into Trelawney's incense bowl at the end of their lesson. Trelawney and the Slytherins who had class the next period had had some very vivid 'visions' as a result. Things had nearly gone wrong when Trelawney, thinking she was a birdie, jumped off her tower. Luckily Professor Flitwick had been taking a stroll outside and managed to catch her with a levitation charm.

Dean had nearly been expelled for that. But since it had been his first serious transgression, he ended up receiving detention until the Hogsmeade weekend in April. When he'd finally served his time in detention, they had all gone to The Three Broomsticks the to celebrate his 'freedom'. That had been the day of the first major Death Eater attack. Dean had been killed.

If you listen carefully now you will hear  
this could be the first trumpet, might as well be the last  
many more will have to suffer  
many more will have to die - don't ask me why

Ron's thoughts came back to the present as he noticed Lieutenant Cliff, swaying to the music. "Lieutenant Cliff?" he yelled, trying to make his voice carry through the loud music. 

"Hush! Bob's preaching. I'll be right with you!"

Ron shrugged and climbed down the ladder again.

"Well?" Hermione asked.

"Bob's preaching," Ron said, repeating Cliff. "She'll be right with us."

Moments later, the hatch opened and Lieutenant Cliff's face looked down on them. "Sorry about that. I just need to establish a certain rhythm before I tap into the mystical plains. It focuses my inner eye. Come on up."

Hermione muttered something under her breath, looking very sceptical. Ron grinned at her before climbing up the ladder once more. Ginny came next, followed by Harry and finally Hermione.

Cliff took a seat on a stool behind a rectangular table and gestured for them to sit on the four stools on the opposite side of the table. It would be a tight fit for the four of them. "Please, have a seat…and don't worry about the vase."

"What vase?" Hermione frowned, trying to spot what Cliff meant. As she did so, her hand knocked over a vase that had been standing on top of a chest. It tumbled off and shattered.

"_That _vase," Cliff said.

"Oh…sorry!" Hermione blushed.

"I said not to worry about it, I'm a witch, aren't I?" Cliff said, grabbing her wand and fixing the vase with a flick of her wand.

"How did you do that?" Ginny asked, impressed. "Did you see Hermione knock it over before she actually knocked it over?"

"What's really going to bake your noodle later on is whether she still would have knocked it over if I hadn't said anything," the Jamaican witch said.

"Hah, that's the oldest trick in the book." Hermione scowled, looking unconvinced. "Trelawney did it to Neville too, in our first divination lesson."

"Well, you don't have to have danced with Neville to know he's an accident on two legs." Ginny grinned. "Neville breaks things all the time. His reputation for clumsiness precedes him. Trelawney probably knew that and decided to use it to try and impress you…everyone could have guessed that Neville would end up breaking something."

"But you're not clumsy, Hermione!" Ron continued, picking up where Ginny had left off. "In fact, you're one of the most graceful people I've ever known…as long as you don't get on broomstick." Harry and Ginny sniggered at that comment and Ron suppressed a chuckle too. "I mean, you've never even spilled too much of an ingredient into a potion, at least, not by accident."

Hermione's cheeks turned pink and Harry burst out laughing. Being in a particularly foul mood in their fifth year, Snape had forced Hermione to partner up with Malfoy. After growing tired of his insulting whispers, she threw too much chopped dragon's liver into their cauldron, causing the potion to blow up in Malfoy's face. It was one of Ron's fondest memories.

"That nearly cost me my status as prefect," she muttered. Then she shrugged and grinned. "But it would have been worth it."

"Snape looked positively murderous." Harry guffawed. "For a split second I thought he would curse you."

"Snape, as in Severus Snape?" Cliff asked. "My god, he continued being a bully even when he was a teacher?"

"You know him? You went to Hogwarts?" Ron asked, surprised.

"I was a Hufflepuff. But just for one year. Snape was two years ahead of me, like your parents," Cliff said, looking at Harry. "Oh, I had such a crush on Sirius Black!"

Ron watched Harry to see his reaction, and was relieved to see an easy smile. "Yeah, you and twenty other girls, if what Remus tells me is true."

"So why did you leave Hogwarts? You weren't expelled, were you?" Ginny asked.

"Oh no, nothing like that. You see, my class and I were looking for roots we'd have to use in Herbology, when a centaur came up to me and told me he was delivering a message from the stars. He said I was a talented Seer, and that I had to go to another school to learn to use my gift better. Hagrid was watching over us and saw it happen. He told Professor Dumbledore, who called the Oracle of Ogygia. She personally came to Hogwarts to test me, and she detected my gift. So I finished my year at Hogwarts and went to Ogygia for the remainder of my school years."

"I think Trelawney's a bit bitter about not having been admitted to Ogygia." Harry grinned. "I had tea with the Oracle and Professor Dumbledore once, and she told me about Trelawney sending letters complaining about the fact that a talented Seer like herself wasn't admitted."

"I've met Sybil Trelawney too. I ran into her twice at a Seer seminar. She _does _have a rather high opinion of herself."

"She's an old fraud," Hermione said in a dismissive tone.

"I wouldn't go so far as to call her a fraud." Cliff smiled. "Sibyl's main problem is that she's so intent on seeing doom that it clouds what limited vision she _does_ have," she explained, while conjuring a small wooden box from one of the shelves in the attic.

Ron recognised the beautifully carved piece as a Tarot card box, made of wood because of its insulating properties against magical currents and vibrations. As she took out the deck, and unwrapped it, Ron couldn't help but appreciate the handsome motifs embroidered into the silk cloth, which was large enough for cards to be placed upon it, even in the most elaborate of readings. "Afraid outside energies will influence the deck?" He smirked.

"Not at all," Cliff replied, much to his surprise, as she began to sift through the deck, separating certain cards. "I just love finery. My own energies that have been transferred to the deck aren't so fragile that they disappear when I leave the deck exposed. All these rules about how you should keep your cards are just guidelines and suggestions, which point out that the cards should be handled carefully and with respect. But everyone should keep their cards like they want to."

"So, what kind of spread are you going to use?" Harry asked.

"I'm not going to use any spread right now. I just need you to select the cards that will symbolise you in my readings. Some people believe that certain cards describe physical characteristics of people. That would mean that, Ron, for example, with red hair, would be one of the Court Cards of the Wands…and opinions even differ about those things. Some say that the King of Wands is blond, for example." Cliff shrugged. "But I don't think one should limit the cards like that. I'm just separating the court cards and some of the major Arcana from the rest of the deck—"

"Hold on!" Hermione interrupted. "I read up on some Divination before I decided that the class was a waste of time…I don't remember anything about major Arcana being used to represent querents."

Ron nodded. He didn't remember that either, and while he didn't claim to know more on the subject than Lieutenant Cliff, what he did know had been enough to earn him an O.W.L in Divination. If it had been up to Trelawney, only Lavender Brown would have received any O.W.L.'s for divination. But thanks to the 'theory rule' instituted by the Council of Clairvoyants, people without 'mystical sensitivity' could also earn one O.W.L. by knowing things about Divination. Otherwise it wouldn't be fair to the ninety-five percent of the students who didn't have the gift.

"Some people say that the Knights don't represent people either, while others say that they do. Some people say that Queens are only women of about thirty-five or older, while Kings are men of similar age. Like I said, I don't believe in limiting the cards. It all comes down to what you believe, I suppose. The way I do things works for me." Cliff looked at Hermione apologetically. "I know this is hardly a satisfying answer for you, but as you undoubtedly know, this is a highly imprecise form of magic. 

"There aren't fixed incantations, like those when you're casting spells…actually, if you think about it, incantations aren't really necessary either. I mean, most simple spells can be done by just pointing the wand and focussing on what you want to accomplish, right? 

"No…like voiced incantations, these cards are only a way to focus one's thoughts, and since everyone thinks differently, coming up with a fixed set of rules would probably be a waste of time."

"It works fine with charms and hexes," Hermione pointed out.

"I'm not claiming I know why magic works the way it does. But I do know that, while they make teaching young wizards easier, incantations also limit what a wizard can do. If you want to do something but you don't know the right words or pronunciation, you're stuck."

"You've got a point, there," Harry agreed. "Though in a way the limitations are good. Imagine how many people would get hurt if a wand and the right thoughts were all one would need to do magic. People _thinking_ about hurting others would actually _hurt_ others—"

"And this coming from a wizard who doesn't even need a wand to do simple magic." Hermione smiled at Harry. 

Instead of looking pleased, Harry's face darkened. "It's not always pleasant, or handy. If you lose control of your emotions—" He swallowed. "That's what Wolfe was most afraid of…" 

Ron looked at Cliff gratefully as she changed the subject. "As for using major Arcana as querents, Hermione, you're right about that. But I feel that some people just aren't covered by the court cards of the minor Arcana."

"What's this reading about, anyway?" Ron asked, hoping to further take Harry's mind off things.

"There is something nagging at me," Cliff replied. "I'm using the cards to define these issues. I have a feeling that these events involve the four of you, and possibly others. But I can only be sure after I do the reading, which I'll be doing in private, by the way. All you have to do—" She placed the thin deck of court cards and selected major Arcana on the table. "—is to shuffle these cards and pick one from the deck…no peeking, of course. When you've picked your card, you put it face down on the table until everyone is done."

"Why?" Ginny frowned.

"Because I don't want anyone to ponder the meaning of the card another has drawn while drawing their own. It may interfere with the process."

Ginny shrugged. "All right then, who goes first?"

"You may choose among yourselves."

Ginny looked at Ron and the others. "I'll go first, okay?"

Neither Ron, Hermione nor Harry objected, so Ginny reached over to the pile of cards and began to shuffle them. After a minute or so, she cut the deck and picked a card from the top, placing it face down on the table.

Next came Hermione, Ron, and finally Harry.

After Harry had selected his card, Cliff took the remaining cards and shuffled them back into the main deck. "You can show your cards now."

Ron looked at his card…it was the King of Wands. He glanced at Hermione's card, and saw that she was the Queen of Swords. Ginny's card turned out to be the Queen of Coins, while Harry's—

"Hey, I took two cards. They're stuck together," Harry said, as he peeled off a card that had been sticking to the back of the other. Ron saw the Magician in one hand, and the Emperor in the other. Both were major Arcana.

Ron looked at Cliff quizzically, who had an intense frown on her face. "Can I see those cards?" she asked Harry, who immediately handed over the cards for inspection. "That's odd. The cards are perfectly clean…no stickiness."

"Is it some kind of sign?" Ginny asked promptly, her eyes glowing with anticipation. Ron was suddenly reminded of Parvati and Lavender during Divination.

"I don't know…yet," Cliff said. She brought both cards behind her back where they couldn't see them, and fumbled around a bit before carefully placing both cards onto the table facedown. "Pick one."

Harry went for the one on the right and ended up with the Magician.

Cliff nodded serenely. "I can't say that was unexpected."

"What do you mean?" Harry asked quickly, looking a bit worried.

"Relax, Harry. I don't predict doom at every corner. I just meant that you resemble the Magician so much. Let me tell you what I mean.

"Originality, resolution, skill, mastery, flexibility, dexterity; these are some traits you have. The card indicates strength of will, and the ability to choose one's own actions, face risks, and see a task through to completion. However, your skill could also have been used for destructive or evil ends." Cliff reached over and patted his hand. "Fortunately for us, though, you made the right decision. Now pay attention. You've taken Divination, so you _should_ know this, but I'll refresh your memory anyway."

Ron suppressed a grin. They probably needed it, since he and Harry had barely earned their O.W.L.s. Most of what Ron had learned had already slipped from his mind.

"The Magician's number is One, the number of creation and individuality; his power is transformation through the use of his will. In his manipulation of the basic elements into all the substances and materials of life, he shows us that from a foundation of the mundane can emerge all that is to come. He can take the Nothing from which the Fool emerged and shape it into something, making one out of zero. Clearly this is power of a divine sort, and it is true that the Magician is a conduit for a higher power, which commands the entire material world. Since all that we can see in the physical world is the conduit himself, the acts he performs often seem like extremely powerful magic.

"Like it or not, Harry, it is widely known that you've mastered everything you've put your mind to. And the rest sure sounds like the legend of the Boy Who Lived, doesn't it?"

Ron shot Harry a glance. His friend was squirming on his stool. "A little, I guess."

"A little, huh?" Cliff grinned and continued. "The Magician's real power comes from sources outside of him, and he is effectively powerless without these sources, as these sources of power are impotent and useless without their conduit. Funny, how your friends fit into the scheme of things, too."

"Be more specific." Hermione frowned.

"Does this mean you agree with my interpretation so far?"

"It does seem strangely accurate." Hermione admitted with visible reluctance.

"And you realise that you are one of Harry's sources? The Queen of Swords… highly intelligent, has a complex personality, and is concerned with attention to detail and accuracy in all things. She is alert to the attitudes and opinions of those around her, and skilled at balancing opposing factions whilst she furthers her own schemes."

"I don't _scheme_!" Hermione protested.

Ron laughed. "Really? What about our second year?" He knew he'd made his point when Hermione flushed red. Even though she disliked breaking rules, she could be quite the schemer when she needed to be, and Ron had taken it upon himself to remind her of that part of herself every so often.

"She is self-reliant, swift acting, versatile and inventive…a person who is renowned for their perception and insight," Cliff continued. "The intuitive quality of the Water element and the mental clarity of the Swords are behind this potent combination, and in this case the two elements are not opposite to one another. This keen vision allows the Queen of Swords to see straight to the heart of any situation, past the illusions that may entice others into seeing what isn't really there. She always sees both sides of every argument…"

"That's our Hermione, all right!" Harry smiled.

A slow smile spread over Hermione's face. "All right, I caught that little hint. Ginny and Ron are sources too, aren't they?"

"Yes! Ginny…the Queen of Coins. Sensible, down-to-earth, wise and compassionate. She is a lover of comfort, splendour, ostentation, the grand occasion and the grand manner. She is lavish in her affection and her gifts, magnanimous and forgiving. She has a responsible attitude to her wealth, and uses it to support and advance those in her domain. She appreciates the good things of life." 

"I picked the wrong card," Ginny grumbled. "That sounds like Heidi."

Cliff gave Ginny a penetrating stare. "You picked the card you were meant to pick. You may not have a lot of gold, but you certainly qualify when it comes to the affection part. The Queen of Coins is a character in which the energy of a major Arcana is reproduced, but on a more accessible level. She is like a mirror of the Empress. I think this means you are the one closest to Harry."

Ron looked at his little sister. "The Queen of Coins is supposed to be nurturing, sustaining all kinds of life," he said, dragging the things he had learned in Divination to the surface. "You're the one who kept Harry going when things really got bad. Hermione and I were there too, but you gave him something we couldn't." 

"The Queen of Coins is not necessarily rich in terms of money, but she is always rich of heart, and she shares her wealth with all those in need," Harry said, gazing up at Ginny with a look that left Ron unable to decide whether he should pat him on the back or beat him into a bloody pulp.

"Nice to know you have paid some attention in your Divination class," Cliff teased Harry and Ron. Then she fixed her penetrating gaze on Ginny again. "Her only real _weakness_ is an obsession with the security and protection that the Coins suit embodies, and this should come as little surprise because the Empress has trouble in this area as well. Very protective, sometimes overly so."

Ginny looked at her feet. "Right."

Hermione caught Ron's eye and she gave him a knowing look. Cliff had voiced the very reason why Ginny felt threatened by Heidi. She had also suggested that Ginny was very much like their mum in some ways.

"Ronald!" Cliff said solemnly. "The King of Wands… A man who is noble and courageous, and who exhibits qualities of great strength and fortitude. He is virile and passionate, and has a loyal and generous nature. He is a lover of traditional ways and family life. He tends to act swiftly when provoked, yet on occasion may find it hard to be decisive because his insight enables him to see every side of a problem. He is splendid at giving moral support." Her solemn look was quickly replaced by one of mischief, and she turned to Hermione. "Passionate and virile…is that true?"

"Why don't you ask your cards?" Hermione snapped, blushing furiously.

Harry and Ginny laughed, and Cliff giggled. "I'm afraid my cards aren't good at girl-talk. But anyway—" She smiled at Ron. "The King of Wands is the ultimate leader, who looks forward to challenges because he enjoys the rush of adrenaline that solving a difficult problem can induce."

"That's Hermione's fault, always kicking me into action. Ever since I became a Ranger, I don't know what else I ought to do," Ron replied jokingly. Back at Hogwarts, he'd always allowed Hermione or Harry to take the lead. He had limited his own leadership to ordering around his pieces on the chessboard.

"It is true," Cliff said. "Matthias says that you've changed a lot in very little time. I think you used to be the Knight of Wands. But you grew up." She looked at the others. "All of you did. You were already far more mature than most people your age when you came here, which is part of the reason you were approached to begin with. But you kept on growing.

"Yet the more things change, the more they stay the same. For the King of Wands has a remarkably good relationship with the common people," Cliff said. Then she began to shuffle her remaining cards again.

"So are you going to tell us what the cards say, when you've done with the reading?" Hermione asked.

"I don't know. It all depends on the nature of the information."

"But you can't keep it from us if it concerns us!" Ginny said indignantly.

"Can't I?" Cliff frowned. "Tell me, would Hermione still have knocked over that vase if I hadn't said anything?"

"I-I…oh, I s-see what you mean," Ginny stammered. "Sometimes it's better not to know the future."

"I happen to be among the people who think so, yes. Hard to believe, right, since I'm clairvoyant! I think the main problem with revealing people's fortune is that it causes a lot of people to behave according to the predictions, making it a self-fulfilling prophecy. Sometimes, the cards tell me whether or not I should reveal information, but it's seldom that easy. It worked out all right for that Hogwarts attack, but sometimes it doesn't." Cliff sighed. Then she smiled. "Why don't you go downstairs and have some drinks. Matthias is making some fruit drinks as part of our diet."

Ron raised his eyebrows. The Lieutenant _had _lost a bit of weight. He'd though it must have been a trick of the light at first, but now that he paid closer attention, he saw that her clothes seemed a little looser.

"Why are you on a diet?" Ginny asked.

"I began mostly to support my hubby through _his_ diet. Then I decided it wouldn't be bad to get some of my girlish figure back again. Besides, I'll gain a lot of weight again when I get pregnant."

"Make sure you don't overdo the diet, Lieutenant, or it may decrease your fertility," Ginny said.

"Oh, don't worry. Serafina would help me keep it balanced, but thank you for your concern."

"Are you and Captain Faust going to have children?" Hermione blurted out. "At your age wouldn't that be dangerous for you?"

"Hermione, she's a witch…and so are you!" Ginny said. "We age a little slower and live much longer than Muggles do, remember? We can still quite safely have children even when we're fifty. And if there is a complication, magical healing—"

"Oh, right…I forgot about that." Hermione sighed. "It's just that so many wizards have children _earlier_ than Muggles do, particularly you Weasleys."

"Hey, we don't have much choice in the matter." Ron grinned. "The Weasley legions cannot be repelled by Anti-conception Charms, remember?"

"Oh, don't worry. I reinforce the charm every day."

Ron felt his knees go weak. "What? You're not on potion?"

"Honestly, I'm not taking any chances—"

"Hermione!" Ron groaned. "Mum used to do daily charms too, after Fred and George. But it didn't work, did it? Please, unless you want to have a baby, start using potion!" he pleaded. "You heard what the cards said, right? Virile…" The subsequent scowl on Hermione's face told Ron that he shouldn't have used Divination to argue his case, and he kicked himself mentally He could have said anything, but not _that_. Even if he hadn't been completely serious.

"Ron, I'm perfectly sure I'm safe."

"I don't know, Hermione," Ginny began carefully. "Arthur and the twins were both born despite the charms Katie and Angelina used. They weren't planning to have children so soon. Maybe you should go on potion…"

"Absolutely not…I won't be bullied into—"

"You have to!" Ron urged.

"I don't _have_ to do anything, Ronald Weasley!" Hermione said sharply.

Ron gritted his teeth. Why did she have to be so stubborn and underestimate the Weasley fertility? He was surprised that she wasn't pregnant already!

"I hope we've been able to help you, Lieutenant. I have some things I need to do, so if you'll excuse me," Hermione said, bending down to open the hatch. Then she quickly disappeared down the ladder.

Ron quickly said goodbye to Lieutenant Cliff and hurried after Hermione. She wouldn't get away from him that easily. They needed to discuss this, because he felt that now would certainly not be the best time for them to bear the added burden of responsibility for a child. He had yet to turn twenty-two. He simply didn't feel ready to be a father, and their responsibilities as Rangers complicated matters even more. "Hermione!"

Hermione, who was stomping down the street, didn't answer.

Ron quickened his pace and caught up to her. "Hermione, hold on!"

"Don't you have somewhere to be?" she snapped angrily, not stopping.

Glancing at his watch, Ron knew it would be pushing his luck, since he had to report for disciplinary duty. But in light of the current crisis, that would simply have to wait. "This is more important."

She suddenly halted. "Fine. So talk!"

"Here?" Ron asked. He didn't feel like discussing this out in the open.

"If you want to talk about it _now_."

"All right!" he said, and began to talk as softly as possible. "Hermione, I told you that charms aren't a guarantee when it comes to my family. You have—" Ron bit back the rest of the sentence. It was best not to put that sort of pressure on her. "Sorry. You probably think you know what you're talking about, but so do I. If you don't want to use potion, that's fine. But that'll mean that we may have children sooner than we planned." He sighed. "Hermione, why won't you just use potion?"

Hermione lowered her gaze and didn't answer him. That was so unlike her. Ron knew Hermione only broke eye contact when she was hiding something. But what could she possibly be hiding? Why did she seem so hesitant to use Anti-conception Potion?

"Ron…I…" Hermione said, looking him in the eyes again. 

He then saw that hers were shiny with unshed tears, and a thought suddenly struck him. "Hermione, are you…do you have infertility problems? Can you have children?"

Hermione couldn't contain herself any longer and burst into tears.

Ron stepped forward immediately and engulfed her in a hug. He didn't say anything. He just held her, knowing that she'd talk when she was ready to. He shot overly inquisitive passers-by hostile looks that left no doubt to the fact that he wanted them to mind their own business. When Harry and Ginny turned up a few minutes later, Hermione seemed to have calmed down and was ready to speak.

"Remember when Death Eaters attacked my parents' home?" she sniffed.

Ron nodded. How could he forget! It had been a painful example of how much Ministry information the Death Eaters had had access to. Luckily, it had been more of an intimidation mission than an actual execution. The only reason Hermione was still alive was because Voldemort had wanted her to live and deliver the message to Harry. Otherwise they would have been far more aggressive. "Yeah, Malfoy was one of them, right?"

"They were throwing the curses at my middle. The mediwizard repaired some of the damage, but I only have one working ovary left. They said it wasn't one hundred percent either, and that using something as heavy as Birth-control Potion would very likely shut it down forever."

"Oh, Herm! Why didn't you just tell me?"

"I know you don't want children now, Ron. B-but…the longer we wait, the slimmer our chances of having any children. The mediwizard told me—and I ran some of my own tests too, with Serafina's help—I can't count on being fertile for ten more years. If we're going to have children, we'd better have them now."

"Wait, Serafina knew about this?" he asked angrily. Then he looked at Harry and Ginny. "What about you two?"

"They didn't know, Ron!" Hermione assured him. "Only Serafina and Captain Sharif knew."

"Bloody hell! Serafina just picked to wrong time to learn how to keep secrets."

That elicited a half-sobbing snigger from Hermione. 

Ron smiled. At least he could still make her laugh. "And I finally know why Captain Sharif keeps giving me those odd looks."

Ginny began to giggle and Hermione followed suit. Harry was giving him a diabolical grin. "That's not why he looks at you like that, Weasley."

"Ron…Captain Sharif is gay, and he fancies you!" Ginny said, trying very hard not to laugh.

"What?" Ron exclaimed, shocked. He gave Harry a murderous glance. "How long have you known?"

"That he's gay or that he fancies you?"

"Both!"

"Well, I've only known about the fancy for a month, Ginny told me. As for him being gay, come on! You can't tell me that you haven't noticed the way he moves!"

"He's got a wooden leg!"

"I said the way he moves, in general, not just the way he walks."

"That doesn't mean anything," Ron persisted. This couldn't be true. He just couldn't be _that_ oblivious.

"Honestly, Ron!" Ginny laughed. "He wears _eye-liner_!"

"I thought that was an Egyptian fashion thing…"

***

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nycgal: Glad you liked the chapters.

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SiriDragon: Evil evil person, you said. Music to my ears. ;-)

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Lana Riddle: Thank you. 

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Gogirl: I never lie. No, I merely suggest some things and leave you to interpret them. And if it were her daughter, the child would have grown up mighty fast, don't you think? 

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Maverick Davis: I don't know if angst was the right word. But the adversities will increase, yes.

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harry/ginny4eva: He knew there was a good chance he'd be sent to Azkaban, where in turn, he knew there would be a good chance that he'd get his soul sucked out.

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Ginny1946: No-one was in a speaking mood at the funeral. In fact, I could argue that they chose not to speak to avoid bitching about the commander in an emotional moment. On another note, at the moment, there is no Ranger from Guyana. But I have some other Rangers from the region, written in my notes. There's one from Surinam, for example. But the Rangers are not yet at full strength. There will be plenty of new Rangers in the future, Who knows?

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EliCa: I'll write as fast as I can.

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Nosgoroth: Am I? Why thank you. 

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Casual Reader: Yep, Aberforth is Gandalf. There are going to be some other LoTR moments throughout the story. 

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sherman: There is nothing to forgive, my friend.

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The Millenium One: To pull a Harry: To seemingly perish, only to triumphantly return and baffle the others characters later. :-)

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Lamina Court: Yeah, many people just assume that Dumbledore never reproduced. I tried to give this 'child' some background as well, and weave it into the story. I hope I made it interesting.

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Maab: Oops, I forgot to mention that about the Draconians. **Disclaimer: **While I added my own meaning of the origin of the Draconians' name for this story, it _was_ indeed inspired by The Vision of Escaflowne. Thanks for reminding me, Maab. 

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rowan: I'm sorry the reading isn't quite as elaborate in some stories, but after asking around, I came to the conclusion that it would be better not to write about actual spreads, since interpretations can vary per deck used and from person to person. Another writer who once wrote about Tarot, told me that the readers actually e-mailed her, insisting that the way she interpreted things were all wrong. I just wanted to avoid that.

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Sorensen: No, they haven't discussed the properties of those necklaces. :-) That'll have to remain for a late chapter.

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Petals: I guess it depends on you definition of angst. As for Aberforth, I wish all that wisdom had been my own, but as it is, I borrowed it from a sci-fi series, as I mentioned in the disclaimer. Dumbledore's age, I think, was never actually discussed. But I could be wrong. I heard that stuff about Dumbledore being a senior wizarding citizen, and McGonagall being in the 'wizarding middle age' too. I also got the impression that Dumbledore was old, even for wizards. Anyway, I'm not sure if it had been Rowling who said those things, or whether it had been educated guesses made by people who've analysed the books. Like I said before, I could be wrong, it could have been Rowling herself, in which case I'll have to plead ignorance to excuse my faulty info on the subject.

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malfoyslova15: I believe that is mentioned in 'Existence after Life' chapter 16. 

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RogueAngel: Well, as you've seen, this lady isn't like Trelawney. 

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Clare: Sorry, I have to adhere to my one post every two weeks strategy.


	10. The Rhetoric of Irony, Part I

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The Rhetoric of Irony, Part I

Chapter 10

It was good to be working again. It would keep her from worrying about Harry, who had gone off on an auxiliary mission that morning, to relieve the pressure on some of the teams who had been out there for months. 

After manually piecing back together the puzzle consisting of all the shards of the Mirror of Erised, Aberforth marked the area to prevent anyone from stepping on the mirror and undoing all their work. They'd had to fit all the pieces together without magic, since, according to Aberforth, any charm would disrupt the magic of the mirror. He looked at Ginny. "Now, the next step is to add a special coating of potion onto the mirror before casting the _Reparo _spell_._"

"Why not brew the potion in advance?"

"Because it has to be poured over the mirror between two and a half, and three minutes after it's completed. There was no way we could have pieced it back together that quickly without magic." The ancient wizard smiled kindly at her. "I'm glad you helped me with that. I get bored rather quickly in my old age. That's why I put those charms on the goat, you know? Pure boredom! I just did it to see how the Ministry would react. Quite a spectacle that turned out to be."

Ginny smiled shyly. Like his older brother, Aberforth also had his share of eccentricities. "Mr Dumbledore? Can I ask you a question?"

"My father was Mr Dumbledore," Aberforth said, faking annoyance. "I'm just plain old Aberforth. But yes, you may ask your question."

"Why did everyone think you were crazy? I mean, I can't imagine that you and Professor Dumbledore just started the rumour and left things to run their course. People can't be _that_ gullible!" she said, instantly doubting her own words as she spoke them. After all, most wizards had eagerly eaten up all the dung Skeeter kept feeding them.

Aberforth gave her a rueful grin. "No, the rumour was already out there. Albus and I decided to encourage it." He briefly paused, thinking about what he was going to say next. "Ginny, didn't you ever wonder how I came by my knowledge of Dementors?"

As a matter of fact, she had. That would have been her next question. "Yes, I did."

"Nearing the end of my command, I spent more time with them than was healthy. A dark witch was hiding up in Northern Russia, where dark magical currents are strong and Dementors seem to spring out of the ground like mushrooms. She'd made a deal with the Dementors, so they left her alone while she was hiding from me. I, however, wasn't so fortunate.

"That week, I cast more Patronus Charms than I'd cast in my whole life up till then. I barely retained my sanity, and I behaved a little oddly for a while after that. That's why I had to retire from the Order as well. That's where the little insanity story comes from." He grabbed his staff, and donned his cloak. "I'd appreciate it if you don't tell anyone, unless they ask, of course. If that happens, tell them they should ask me themselves. If they don't have the guts to ask me this to my face, they don't deserve to know."

"Okay…" Ginny said. It was a good enough reason "So, are we going out?"

"Yes. I ordered a Dragonite stone to be delivered to Concordia, since the Order doesn't have any in stock. I just got news of its arrival."

"What do we need that for?"

"It has to be placed on the bottom of the cauldron before we brew the potion. You'll have to remind me to scoop it out when the potion starts to simmer." He handed Ginny her own cloak. "We can stop by at The Barrel, afterwards, for a drink."

Ginny raised an eyebrow and smiled. "Don't we have to finish the mirror as soon as possible?"

"All work and no play? I'm an old man, Ginny. I want to enjoy the remaining years of my life," he added jokingly. "Don't worry about the mirror. They didn't put me on a timetable. One of the perks of being a former commander."

"Yes, but _I'm _not a former commander."

"Take it easy. You're with me!"

Ginny was unconvinced. "Formally I'm not even a Ranger yet. I don't want to endanger that, you know."

"Don't worry about it. It'll be just this once. They never made much fuss about it in my day," Aberforth said reassuringly.

"That was _then_. Commander Nomvete will give me a hard time for sure," Ginny groaned. The woman was worse than McGonagall when it came to playing by the rules.

"I sincerely doubt that," Aberforth said grimly. "I had a little chat with her that changed her outlook on certain issues somewhat. I wouldn't have interfered with the Order's business like this, normally. But by Merlin, she really needed a good talking to."

Ginny smiled sadly. "I reckon she did. Too bad it was too late to make a difference… Hey, would you mind if we went back to my town house instead? I want to check on Galatea."

A look of concern appeared on Aberforth's face. "Yes, of course. Is she eating again?"

Ginny nodded. Galatea had stopped eating after Wolfe's death, but with help from all the girls in the town house, Hermione had convinced Galatea to start eating again, arguing that the baby, which was the last bit of Wolfe, would suffer if she didn't. "She's eating. We always take turns to make sure that she does, though. It isn't like we don't trust her, but grief-stricken people can do crazy things."

"Like jumping out of the maintenance bay cruiser gate?" Aberforth suggested, his eyes twinkling mischievously.

Ginny rolled her eyes. So Aberforth had heard about it too. "Oh yes, rub it in, why don't you!" she huffed, throwing her cloak over her shoulders and walking to the nearest Citadel Portal.

They swept by the shop where Aberforth had ordered the Dragonite, before going straight to the sixth level in the blue sector, where the town house was. Much to her surprise, she saw Ron and Hermione standing at the door, ringing the bell.

"Hermione, Ron…what are you doing here?"

"Ginny…Aberforth…Hi!" Hermione greeted. "Oh, I have to take Crookshanks to the vet for his shots. But I hardly ever see him anymore."

"I haven't seen him for three days now." Ginny frowned. "I thought he was with you," she added, stepping through the door that automatically opened up for her because she lived there.

"I told you not to mark the big day on our calendar," Ron said, while he followed Ginny in. "I told you often enough that he can read! I can't blame him for taking off like that."

"He gets that from you, Ron," Hermione admonished.

"How can he get that from me? It's a damned cat…you talking as if he's our child!"

"He's half-Kneazle, and yes, he gets it from you. Didn't you pay attention in Care of Magical Creatures? Kneazles copy some of their masters' behavioural characteristics, and now that we're formally engaged, he considers you his master by extension. Even since he's lived in the same house with you, he's been acting more and more like you!"

"Of course! I'm an irresistible role model!" Ron grinned obnoxiously, causing Hermione to scowl fiercely.

"Maybe he's with Annabelle," Ginny suggested, interrupting the argument that inevitably would have ensued. "Bloody hell, why don't you two just get married already. You argue as if you've been married for years."

"Too true!" Aberforth laughed.

"Ginny?" Galatea called. From the sound of it, she was in the parlour.

"What is it? Do you need anything?" Ginny answered, walking into the parlour. Galatea was reclining on one of the sofas, holding a letter in her hand, an empty box of chocolates in her lap.

"I'm fine. But shouldn't you be at the Citadel?"

"Aberforth had to leave to pick up something, and I went with him." Ginny eyed the box curiously. "Don't tell me you've eaten the whole box, Tea, you should mind what you eat!"

Galatea blushed guiltily. "My little sister sent it to me." She held up a letter. "She's coming to live in Concordia in November. She asked me to look for a place for her to live."

"Already? She just got out of school. What about the one year waiting period?" Ginny asked. After all, it was only through Commander Ironheart's intervention that Charlie had to wait six months instead of the full year to move to Concordia so he could be with Jasmine and Charlie Jr.

"She applied in advance, over a year ago," Galatea explained.

"Sensible girl," Hermione said, striding into the parlour and sitting down in an armchair next to the sofa. "What kind of job has she got lined up?"

"She's going to work at the library archives. But she really wants to be a singer!"

"Is she any good?" Ron asked bluntly. He scooped a protesting Hermione out of the armchair, and sat down again, dumping her in his lap.

Galatea smiled. "Well, I think she's very good. But as a sister, I may be biased."

"About a week ago, Padma told me she needed a roommate," Hermione said, slapping away Ron's hand, which he'd been using to twirl curls in her hair. "Not now, Ron! Maybe your sister would like to move in with her."

"How is Padma?" Galatea asked.

Ginny had heard what had happened to Padma earlier that year. She prayed that she'd never have to undergo anything like that. Malfoy had nearly done it to her, when he'd abducted her after the interrupted wedding ceremony. "I saw her yesterday. I didn't really ask how she was dealing with it, but I could tell she isn't comfortable around most men yet. I reckon it'll take a while, but she's seeing a counselor."

Galatea heaved a pained sigh. "Good. I was supposed to counsel her, but…" Her lips began to tremble and her eyes filled with tears.

Hermione reached over and gave her shoulder a squeeze. "You've got other things on your mind right now. Padma understands."

Galatea wiped away the tears. "Thank you, Hermione. So what are you doing here? Did you come to visit me?"

"Actually, no but I would've come by later today. I'm looking for Crookshanks. Have you seen him recently?"

"I think I saw him out on Heidi's balcony this morning," Galatea said. 

Hermione slid off Ron's lap. "I'll go check Heidi's room," she said, and headed towards the stairs. Ron quickly rearranged his robes to conceal the effect Hermione had had on him. Unfortunately, he failed to do so without anyone noticing, and he flushed red.

"Don't be embarrassed, son," Aberforth said airily. "When you reach my age—"

"Aberforth, I really don't want to hear it!" Ginny interrupted pleadingly.

Ron grinned. "And it isn't like I'll ever reach your age anyway. I don't have Draconian blood."  


*

Draco smirked as he snoozed on his comfortable new bed, basking in the success of his recent endeavours. Life was good. So what if he was regarded as the Mistress's boy toy. The advantages of that station far outweighed the envious remarks made by the lesser wizards.

Someone rudely beat on the door of his significantly improved quarters. Having Her ear in many things had enabled him to arrange better lodgings for himself…whenever he wasn't basking in Her delightful company, of course. "Who is it?" he asked, not bothering to hide the annoyance he was feeling.

"Mind your tone, Malfoy," a contemptuous voice answered. "That is no way to answer your superior."

Draco raised an eyebrow. While everyone else referred to Von Brandenburg when Anastasiou wasn't there, technically he wasn't in charge of the wizards, just the vampires. "Last time I checked, you weren't my superior."

"Open the door or I'll have the trolls break it down."

"Don't hold your breath!" Draco chuckled. "Oops, I forgot you don't breathe! We both know the trolls are more likely to listen to me than to you, since even your boss has no authority over them."

"_Our_ boss!"

Draco shrugged. As far as he was concerned, that was debatable. Lately, he found that he didn't have to do anything he didn't want to do. The Mistress saw to that. "What do you want?" 

"If you'd spend less time burying your face in the Mistress's nether regions, you'd know that there is a scheduled meeting for the senior associates in the organisation," Von Brandenburg growled.

"Bloody hell!" Draco muttered. He'd forgot all about that. It wasn't as if he could be compelled to attend anyway, but this was something he needed to do in order to keep the Mistress informed. "Where?"

'The usual chamber. Be there in five minutes."

Draco shot up from his bed and threw on presentable robes, before lacing his boots up with a charm. He made it to the chambers in four minutes and sank into his usual seat, ignoring the disapproving glances he got from Paula, his immediate overseer.

"Nice of you to join us, Mr Malfoy," Anastasiou sneered. "I'm terribly sorry to have interrupted you while you were recovering from your _lapdog_ duties…"

"One of the advantages of having a heartbeat…" Draco retorted, keeping a perfectly straight face. "Shall we get down to business, then?"

Anastasiou scowled, but didn't say anything else. Instead, he glanced at the dark haired witch sitting next to Draco. "Paula!"

"I managed to re-establish contact with Yamato, although some _persuasion_ was needed to bring him back into the fold. I also confiscated all the research material I could find, should I ever need to carry out my threat."

"You can't kill him," Draco interrupted.

"We can, and if he ever tries to break away again, we _will_."

"That's insane." Draco shook his head. Were these people brainless? "Stealing and replicating some of his ideas will still be a poor replacement for his genius."

"I am well aware of that, Malfoy," Anastasiou said. "However, we have no choice. Would you rather have him turn against us at a bad time? Besides, I have taken steps to compensate for his skill in case he decides to cross me again. I've attracted the best some the best Artificers and Necromancers willing to work for us. Dividing them up into teams and encouraging competition will provide me with results nearly equal to Yamato's."

"You said it…_nearly_! The Mistress wouldn't—"

"Go and whine, if you want to." Anastasiou smirked. "There are some issues for which she trusts my judgement blindly…as she should. You'll just annoy her…and trust me, you don't want to lose her favour after your recent insufferable behaviour."

Draco swallowed away the apprehension he'd begun to feel. He didn't want to ponder his possible fate if he were to lose Her favour now. But he took solace in the fact that she didn't trust Anastasiou as blindly as Anastasiou thought she did. And there was still the fact that he had plenty to contribute, something that all the beings in the room also realised. "Let us just hope that Yamato took that threat of yours seriously, then," he muttered.

The vampire heard him, of course. "For his sake, I hope so too. I have no qualms about turning him into a ghoul. Now be silent."

"Our recovery of Yamato also yielded some interesting information about certain power plays in Japan. Remember how a Ranger was attacked and seriously injured by assassins a while ago?" Paula asked. 

Draco nodded. He remembered having heard something along those lines. 

"Why does this concern us?" A younger vampire frowned.

"Information is ammunition, you moron," Draco said exasperatedly." He looked at Anastasiou. "Where did you dig up this idiot? Did the vampire who made him suck out his brain instead of his blood?"

"Be quiet!" Paula said. "Please refrain from interrupting me, or we'll still be here tomorrow."

"What's the rush? Have you got a hot date? Is the fellow blind?" He eyed her disdainfully. 

"Were you born an annoying little prick, Malfoy, or did you have to practise to become one?" Von Brandenburg snapped.

"Have you always been so irritable, or did you become it upon the realisation that you'd never enjoy a good shag again, being undead and all…?"

Von Brandenburg began to rise from his chair, but Anastasiou stopped him. "Relax, Wilhelm. Once the Mistress realises that not all wizards are minute-men, she will replace him soon enough."

Draco's gut went cold. How the hell… "That is none of your concern, and there's a perfectly reasonable explanation. My recent restoration left me rather sensitive!" he said quickly.

"As opposed to when?" Anastasiou grinned gleefully. "Before we decided to invite you into our midst we interviewed Miss Parkinson, without her being aware of it, of course. She's quite a gossip, let me tell you. It seems that, after every unsatisfying session with you, she had to turn to a certain Mr Goyle to satisfy her. Now shut the hell up! Paula, go on!"

With utmost difficulty, Draco managed to postpone his indignation to a later time and focus his attention on the present.

"As I was saying, before the premature ejaculation… I mean…interruption,"—Draco clenched his fists under the table, determined not to react to the jibe—"I found out which Ranger was attacked, and why.

"Previously, we assumed that the attack was orchestrated by Yamato. While Yamato was in on it, for his own reasons, he did not mastermind it. The mastermind behind it was Goro Hishida."

Draco couldn't quite place the name, but he knew he'd heard it somewhere before. It was someone very important. "The Imperial appointee to the ruling council," he remembered.

"The same." Paula nodded. "The reason is even more interesting." She looked at Anastasiou. "You remember the crisis, about thirty ago?"

"About the Imperial succession protocol?" Anastasiou asked.

"Yes. For those of us who aren't familiar with it, a dark witch appeared after the birth of the Imperial heir, casting a curse on the Emperor and his son, preventing them from siring any male offspring. The guards killed her immediately, which proved to be a fatal mistake, since her sacrifice empowered the curse beyond breaking. Neither the Emperor, nor his son, sired any more boys. His daughter's never had any either, for that matter.

"After it became clear that the curse was very real and could not be broken, the Emperor pushed for a reform in their laws, transforming their monarchy into a matriarchal one, until the curse was broken."

"So his son's daughters could hold onto power." Von Brandenburg nodded.

"This would shatter their tradition, so a high price had to be paid for the reform to be approved by the council. Inihara, the head of the most prominent family in the Thunderbird Clan, which has half of the minor clans in its pocket, forced the Emperor to agree to marry his eldest granddaughter off to his son or grandson. Not only that, but each subsequent groom was to be from his clan."

Draco smirked. "Let me guess…Inihara was behind the curse!" It was what _he_ would have done, in such a case. A very elegant way to quietly take over power too.

"Glad to know the oxygen deprivation you suffer while err…_serving_…the Mistress isn't affecting your brain yet." Von Brandenburg grinned.

Draco rolled his eyes. "This is really getting old. But then again, one can hardly expect innovation from a vampire, right? The world changes, but you don't!"

"That's enough, from both of you." Anastasiou slammed him fist onto the table. "I will tolerate no more interruptions!"

"Thank you, Lord Anastasiou." Paula sighed. She looked at Draco. "Indeed, Inihara arranged for the curse to be cast. Knowing he held a lot of influence, the Emperor had no choice but to agree with the deal.

"But it seems the Emperor knows a thing or two about scheming as well as well. When it became known that his son's wife was pregnant with twins, no one save the parents, the Imperial physician and the Emperor's closest advisor, Goro Hishida, knew about it. The physician was later memory charmed into believing that there had only been one child. In the end, only Hishida, the Emperor and the children's parents knew. See, the plan was to hide the eldest daughter somewhere, while signing off the second twin to Inihara. _That's_ what happened.

"Now here comes the tricky part. Hishida too is of the Thunderbird Clan, and he had a large hand in helping Ishida with securing the deal."

"He betrayed the Imperial secret to Inihara?" Von Brandenburg frowned.

"Oh, no. He couldn't have done that even if he'd wanted to. The Imperial family had many dark detectors specifically tuned to sniff out treachery, and apparently even being the chief advisor didn't enable Hishida to gain access to them…until a few months ago, which was why he needed Yamato's help. He is one of the few wizards alive who could sabotage those devices properly. He was planning to betray the Imperial family."

"Why didn't those devices expose him _then_?" Draco frowned.

"Yamato told me that the devices worked like foe glasses. The betrayal had to be more defined for them to pick it up, and he gave Hishida a Confundus Amulet before that happened. That's how he evaded detection."

"Hold on,"—Draco summoned a parchment and a quill and began taking notes—"So it all comes down to the Emperor trying to get around his deal with Inihara. How did he plan on delivering the news without causing a riot? And how come the device didn't expose Hishida when he helped Inihara put pressure on the Emperor?"

Paula smiled. "Helping Inihara didn't qualify as betraying the Emperor. Since Hishida is supposed to be independent, there was nothing wrong with his backing a particular clan. Even the fact that it was his own clan could hardly be frowned upon, since none of the advisors had ever been _really_ impartial, and Inihara might have pulled it off without Hishida's help anyhow. 

"As for the delivery of the news, the Emperor would claim to have separated the twins in the interest of peace and security due to the fact that there is an increased chance of a power struggle between twin siblings. When the time came he would present the elder granddaughter to the world, ascribing the baby switch to a simple mistake. He'd apologise to the Thunderbird Clan, of course. But since the second granddaughter's fingerprint would already be on the marriage contract, they would lose all claim to the heir."

"And they would actually believe the apology?" Draco asked sceptically.

"Of course not. But in that society, challenging the Emperor is not done, especially since none of the other clans would back him up. They'd all be delighted that the Thunderbird Clan …more specifically…the Inihara family, had been kept from gaining any more power. They'd throw their support behind the throne, and that would be it for Inihara."

Draco nodded. So that's how things worked in Japan.

"What does this have to do with the attack on the Ranger, ordered by Hishida?" Von Brandenburg asked.

"I was just coming to that, but I had to give an explanation on Mr Malfoy's question," Paula said impatiently. "As a reward for his outstanding loyalty to the throne, and his help with keeping Inihara from power, _he_ would get to marry the eldest granddaughter. 

"This eldest granddaughter was raised by a half-blood couple of the Clabbert Clan. Her true eye colour was camouflaged to hide her true identity from everyone, her adoptive parents included. She was raised as Mayumi Sakai. She excelled at school and proved to be a powerful witch. She joined the Order of Illumination. That's where she met Gavin Carey, with whom she started a relationship. Gavin Carey is the Ranger who was attacked"—Paula paused and glanced at Anastasiou— "Mayumi has been raised with the idea that she ought to marry a Japanese wizard, since a princess could never marry a gaijin. But it turned out she was more headstrong than anyone had imagined. Her upbringing didn't condition her as well as it should have.

"Hishida found out about the relationship through the Imperial spy net. Since the new Master Spy is loyal to him, he could obtain the information without the Emperor's knowledge, and keep it from the Emperor. The spy who made the discovery, of course, knew nothing about Mayumi's true identity, and added the information about the relationship as a side note."

"So the Emperor knows that his granddaughter is a Ranger, but he doesn't know about her relationship?" Draco asked.

"No, he doesn't. And Hishida could not allow him to find out, since it would cause him to reveal the truth about Mayumi. And while he had nominally promised her to Hishida, there was no binding contract in that case, and apparently Hishida didn't think the Emperor would have forced her to marry him. It would have put everything he'd worked for on thin ice. So he ordered a hit on the Ranger, planning to persuade the Emperor about the time being right for Mayumi's return. She'd come home, heartbroken, and he'd be right there to console her."

"Another thing is still bothering me." Draco glanced down at his notes. "You never said what was in it for Yamato."

"In exchange for Yamato's help, Hishida had several of his most trusted servants kidnap Hitomi Ito and deliver her to him."

That got a response from Anastasiou, who had been relatively quiet. "The Mind Reader. Does he still have her?"

Paula shook her head. "She's dead. He dissected her in an attempt to find out how her gift worked. He extracted and analysed every last bit of her being. He did the same to the African. Fortunately, he _did_ get results. He managed to synthesise a potion that bestows the ability to read minds onto any wizard, for a limited time. It works…I've seen a demonstration."

Draco was at a loss for words. A draught that allowed you to read someone's mind. The possibilities were infinite. If that were true, maybe his own recent success would be meaningless. All that work, for nothing. "Paula," he began after a while, "did Yamato tell you all this, about the whole Imperial intrigue?"

Paula nodded.

"How did he find out?"

"He's got an invention…a chair that puts everyone who sits on it into a trance very similar to those who've taken a dose of Veritaserum. Hishida doesn't know how much Yamato, and thus _we_, know."

Draco shook his head. Brilliant! And they wanted to kill this wizard…Unbelievable.

"That's not all," Paula continued. "A little while ago there was an Imperial banquet, which was attended by two Rangers. Harry Potter, and Maximilian Wolfe. They were there, hoping to find out who attacked Gavin Carey, and why. The Emperor had been inquiring about that as well, so Hishida distracted him with the following ploy. 

"He went to Yamato for help once more, asking for a subtle and undetectable way to put someone under the Imperius Curse. Yamato has something that looks like a small flying insect, which is actually a miniature golem that delivers curses when stinging its targets. He put the Imperius on Princess Matsu and ordered her to attack Potter. As anticipated, Potter repelled the attack and exposed her as the attacker.

"Everybody with half a brain can deduce that she wasn't acting of her own free will, but in Japan that isn't the point. An Imperial scion's inability to repel that curse is seen as disgraceful. The whole event has been covered up, and the princess has been taken to a secret prison." Paula smiled. "Of course, _we_ know where it is."

"I want the full details of this worked out in a report," Anastasiou said. "Great work, Paula." Then he turned to Draco. "And what have you been doing these last few months?"

Draco offered him a confident smile. "If you'd care to travel to another compound, I can show you the fruit of my efforts."

"All right." Anastasiou shrugged. " Let us first discuss the remaining issues…but this had better be really good, Malfoy."

Less than an hour later, after wrapping up the meeting, Anastasiou, Von Brandenburg and Draco arrived at the compound by Portkey, and Draco was immediately approached by one of the people he had put in charge of the project. She did a double take as she noticed the vampire overlord and his second. 

"How is it going?" Draco asked her.

"The Pain Technicians are despairing," the witch began. "The subject doesn't seem to feel pain. He barely reacts to the Cruciatus Curse."

"What on earth are Pain Technicians?" Anastasiou frowned.

"Oh, that's what the torturers and executioners call themselves ever since they got organised." Draco shrugged. "Apparently they thought the former titles didn't sound modern and distinguished enough." He turned to the witch. "Take us to the dungeon."

The resident minions of the small Congolese compound bowed deeply as Anastasiou swept past them. Draco led him straight to chamber next to the dungeon, where Anastasiou could look on from a safe distance.

As Anastasiou peered through a narrow aperture in the walls, Draco watched him closely to see his reaction. He wasn't disappointed. "Malfoy…how…how did you accomplish this? This is fantastic."

Draco smirked and looked into the dungeon, where heavy magical chains held the bloody and bruised body of the mighty Ranger Maximilian Wolfe to the dungeon wall.

***

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Author's Note: What? I never said he was _dead_! If you read my answers to the reviews carefully, you'll see that I never said 'death' but 'fate' I never referred to him in the Past Tense either. And he didn't exactly pull a Harry, did he? I mean, he's a captive. ;-)

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Gogirl: Well, what did you expect? For Ron to abandon Hermione? And no, Ginny doesn't know about Carey.

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Ginny1946: Yes, book five is coming out, which makes this story a race against the clock. I'll have to write faster. And have indeed used the Matrix.

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sherman: It was kind of funny, wasn't it?

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Maab: Nah, I don't know all that much about Tarot. It was mostly research. And the action begins in chapter 11 and 12.

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rowan: Do you still miss Wolfe? *evil grin* 

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harry/ginny4eva: No, I just looked for the cards the bore the greatest resemblance to their character. Hermione's was quite easy. Most interpretations agreed on the Queen of Swords.

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spark37: Oh yeah, poor Wolfe! He'd have been better off dead. Mwahahahaha.

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nycgal: I'll do my best.

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The Millenium One: I know my readers aren't stupid. ;-) I withheld to disclaimer on purpose to see how many people would catch the reference. **Disclaimer: **As so many of you have astutely noticed, the 'breaking vase' segment was borrowed from the Matrix. So, is the plot moving quickly enough again?

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Lana Riddle: It's a good thing no one was offended, accusing me of being homophobic or something. ;-)

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RogueAngel: Not a fun position to be in…exactly what I was trying to convey. I'm glad it worked.

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Lamina Court: And lest we forget, little Charlie Weasley is also Dumbledore's descendant.

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Casual Reader: No, Ron isn't homophobic. Just a little shocked, that's all.

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Petals: Finally, someone who thinks Ginny's a bit out of line with her intense dislike of Heidi. The Maker be praised.

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GinnyK: Hey, the review was a courtesy, not a bargain. But I appreciate the reply anyway. And Hermione's infertility, as I had her explain, was a serious curse related injury that even magical healing couldn't fix completely. 


	11. The Rhetoric of Irony, Part II

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The Rhetoric of Irony, part II

Chapter 11 

Draco began to explain, "I had one of our spies gather information about a potential future associate…Nikita Korolev."

"Ah yes, the Potions Master."

"Among other things, he has a deep knowledge of cauldron creations. Our spy was posted outside Korolev's home, when he turned up. He drank Polyjuice Potion before visiting Korolev, and turned himself into another wizard. Our spy recognised the Polyjuice form as Reginald Dupont. He used to be a Death Eater, and I thought he was dead. But since some of his tissue had to have been used for the potion, I reckon he must still be alive."

"Not necessarily!" Anastasiou said. "This isn't widely known, but there is a potion that keeps tissue samples fresh for years…it's even better than Preservation Charms. Even in my time, they had an assortment of hair and skin belonging to those they'd captured, stored in jars filled with that potion. They kept them in case they needed to blend in with the Dark wizarding community."

"Why don't we have such resources?"

"I don't have someone who knows how to brew that particular potion working for me. I estimate that about two dozen Potions Masters know how to brew it, and those who know never tell anyone that they do. Perhaps Korolev knows… 

"Second," Anastasiou continued, "it wouldn't do us much good anyway. It is completely normal for a so-called dark wizard to disappear for months on end, only to reappear months, or even years, later. That's probably why Korolev wasn't surprised to see the ersatz Dupont show up on his doorstep. Disguising yourself as an ordinary wizard would have to be preceded by kidnapping the wizard in question, learning his habits, and most importantly, keep him out of the way somehow."

Draco nodded. Hiding the original was extremely important, lest someone discover him and sound the alarm.

"The whole procedure takes too much in the way of planning, and unfortunately I don't have many people who are intelligent enough to impersonate people like Mr Crouch managed to do." Anastasiou said wistfully. "Maybe…if I ever find someone capable of brewing the potion, I'll consider that this course of action be taken in certain situations."

"A good thing our spy has a small Animagus form, although that silver paw is a bit conspicuous. He has to muddy it constantly to obscure it. Still, Korolev's place was filled with rats, so Pettigrew could watch the events at his leisure. Imagine his surprise when the creation…a Cauldron Clone, turned out to be an exact duplicate of Harry Potter."

Anastasiou glanced back into the dungeon. "Why would he want a copy of Potter?"

"All in good time." Draco smirked. "Don't you want to you how I got him here?"

"Very much."

"Good. Pettigrew reported back to me and described the Ranger. I ran it against our data on the Rangers…Maximilian Donovan Wolfe. Now, I realised that whatever he was up to wasn't standard operating procedure in the Order of Illumination, so I assumed he'd had to go behind people's backs. Remember how our remaining spy in Concordia hinted at Wolfe having been punished for something…shortly after he retrieved Ginny Weasley from the Micronesian compound?"

"The theory was that he used her as bait, correct?"

"That's right." Draco nodded. "That goes against the Order's code, so I assumed he was punished for it. However, that was minor compared to creating a Cauldron Clone. I knew that if he were caught, the punishment would be much more severe."

"For something like that, one would be sent to Azkaban." Anastasiou frowned. He looked at Draco approvingly. "I bet you read that in the files about my days as a Ranger."

"As a matter of fact, I did. That's why I mobilised spies to keep an eye on Azkaban and similar places. Sure enough, he was sent to Azkaban soon after. I still had a bone to pick with him for what he did to me, so I negotiated an exchange with the Dementors. For the price of three souls, they removed some of his hair when he was asleep and handed it to our operatives who'd been watching the place. I personally went to Korolev and had him create a Cauldron Clone. Then, on the fifth, we took the real one and left the clone behind." Draco grinned triumphantly. "The Rangers believe that he's dead, because they buried the clone."

"They went back for him? Why? After what he'd done…"

Draco shrugged. "Don't know. Maybe they changed their minds. Who knows? Maybe we'll solve that puzzle when we know why he needed a clone of Potter's."

"So you don't know!"

"Not yet. They tried Veritaserum, but he seems immune. Then the Imperius was attempted, but he threw that off…_and he was drugged_! They tried torture, but pain doesn't seem to bother him much." Draco sighed. "I'd have killed him right after I captured him, but knowing why he had a Potter Clone made was an itch I just had to scratch. Bloody hell, four wizards were needed to get through his Shield Charm and stun him." 

"You did well, Mr Malfoy," Anastasiou said quietly. "Make sure the wizards keep out of his line of sight, and only let golems get close. We don't want to him gather information from their minds…and he's still extremely dangerous."

"All right. But what if he can't be broken?"

"_Everyone_ can be broken, Mr Malfoy. Some more easily than others, but no one is unbreakable. Although I dare predict that Max Wolfe will be the toughest one yet." Anastasiou shrugged. "And if all else fails, we can still try that new mind-reading potion of Yamato's to learn uncover his secrets."

Draco frowned. "Are you sure that'll work? I heard that a Mind Reader could be blocked. Wolfe's got a strong mind."

"The way I understand it, one can only block a Mind Reader if one is prepared. He doesn't know about the potion, so as far as he's concerned we don't have that option open to us. I learned from Selene that eye contact, while preferable, is not necessary. Only line of sight is needed, unless a person is so distressed that he's broadcasting. So whoever is chosen to read him can stand behind him."

"The person asking the questions will have to be out of his sight as well, to prevent him from finding out what we're doing." 

"Unless you want to blindfold him. But that would just make him suspicious, and suspicion closes up the mind." Anastasiou began pacing back and forth, deep in thought. Then he abruptly stopped. "Mr Malfoy, we have to move him to a more secure compound. I'll let you know which one in a few hours. Arrange the transfer!"

"All right."

Anastasiou briefly frowned at that, no doubt having expected something like, 'as you wish, my lord.' However, Draco guessed he must have been too excited about their captive to care, at the moment. He let it slide without commenting.

Draco allowed himself a smirk. As long as he kept Anastasiou happy, he had nothing to worry about. And if he kept this up, soon he would be replacing the vampire.

*

It was now mid-October. The more senior Rangers had worked non-stop for a month, and were due to be temporarily relieved, which was why Harry, the Kelly brothers, and some others, were now en route to a deserted area in Georgia.

Gudrun would actually be getting off with them, leaving Lieutenant Gaal in charge of the Cruiser. She was nervously checking her gear, which she hadn't donned in while because she hadn't been required to enter the line of fire. Harry shared her nervousness, but for different reasons. 

Gaal was in charge of the overall mission, having the highest rank, and Doc would be in charge in the field. But if a fight broke out, they would look to Harry, since he was the most senior Combat Ranger present. And that thought terrified him. He wished that Wolfe were there to lead them. He'd always known what to do when the going got tough.

"Don't be nervous, beautiful," Matt teased Gudrun. "I'll be around to protect you in case we run into any bad guys."

Gudrun, for once, wasn't amused. "This isn't a game, surfer boy. You could get hurt if you lose your focus."

"I know," Matt said seriously. "But we've still got a little while before we arrive where we need to be. There will be plenty of opportunity for anxiety later. No use in worrying when everything's fine." He reached over and patted her knee.

"Keep your hands to yourself," Gudrun snapped.

"What in the blazes crawled up you arse?" Matt asked, slightly taken aback. "I'm not coming on to you. I know it's not the time. If it bothers you so much, I'll never touch you again, all right?"

Gudrun's expression softened slightly. "Sorry. It's not you. It's not even the mission."

"If there's something that's been bothering you, you should've told command about it and asked to sit out this one," Harry interjected.

"It's not that bad. Not bad enough for me to sit out the mission. All the other candidates already had another assignment, and they could hardly let Ginny or Rachel Esklove go on this mission."

"Want to talk about it?" Matt asked, looking genuinely concerned.

"There's nothing to talk about." Gudrun sighed.

"Well, if you don't want to talk, fancy a quickie in the restroom? I've heard of the Muggle thing called the mile-high club." He winked and grinned.

Harry smiled and shook his head. Matt was unbelievable sometimes. But then, to his surprise, Gudrun looked up at Matt curiously, a small smile appearing on her face. Then she rolled back her eyes and shook her head. "Don't you have anything else on your mind?"

"Now that you mention it,"—Matt gathered a lock of his long blond hair and held it in front of his face—"have you got any tips how I can prevent split ends? I've had to trim some off a few times this month…"

"I don't think the bad guys will care how you look, Captain Gigolo." Gudrun smiled.

"I'm not being serious. But I got you to smile again, at least…Super Slut!"

"I'm not a slut, I'm a temptress…whoremonger!"

"Fancier name, same thing…Jezebel!" Matt retorted playfully.

Harry grinned and looked at two other Combat Rangers. He hadn't really seen them that often before, but they started out in the Order at the same time as Mayumi and Galatea. Farouk was a twenty-six-year-old Iraqi wizard with the added magical weapons expertise, like Mordecai had. Lota, a stout wizard from Zambia, was the other. They were playing the complicated strategic game that Ron and Clara Da Silva loved to play, although neither seemed to be very good at it.

A small Colombian Ranger Fourth Class from Intelligence, Gloria Delmar, looked on as the two wizards played. She'd be the second ranking Ranger while they were in the field. Harry didn't know her too well, although Hermione knew her, since Delmar doubled as an Analyst as well. She had to be one of the smallest Rangers in the Order, being barely five feet tall.

The hulking form that was Nathan Kelly huddled in a far corner of the cargo bay, scribbling feverishly on a piece of parchment. Harry got up and walked over to him. "What're you doing, mate?"

Nathan stared at Harry, as if he were deciding whether or not he ought to tell him. He shrugged, deciding that it could do no harm. "Writing to Helga. We always write love letters to each other. We keep trying to find interesting ways to express how much we love each other."

"Oh!" Harry blushed. "Sorry, I didn't mean to disturb you. I'll leave you to write—"

"No, don't worry about it. Actually, I'm stuck…maybe you could help me out."

"I'm not much of a romantic." Harry frowned. "Maybe you ought to ask your brother."

Nathan sniggered. "I don't think so. Matt is hardly romantic. He can be one hell of a sweet talker when he wants to be, but I wouldn't count on him to do anything romantic anytime soon. You know, maybe you ought to try and write something like this for Ginny. She strikes me as the kind of girl who'd love it."

Thinking about it, Harry realised the big Australian was probably right. But he wouldn't know what to write. "I'd probably just make an ass out of myself."

"Practice makes perfect. I can help you, if you want to."

"Thanks, but I'm not the sappy love-letter type. If I start writing to Ginny like that, she'll think there's something wrong with me."

"Maybe at first." Nathan laughed. "But once she gets used to the idea I think she'll really appreciate it."

"All right." Harry shrugged. "It's worth a try." He glanced at the bottom of the parchment and read, Nathan. B. Kelly. "What does B stand for?"

"Blue-Ocean," he muttered, looking slightly embarrassed. "My mother loved the whole Muggle flower-power thing. I'm not even sure if it counts as one or two middle names. I mean, I know it's just the B, but you'd think that it would be two, right?" 

Harry frowned. "Isn't that flower power thing a little before your time?"

Nathan nodded. "Yeah, she's _still_ into it. Blue-Ocean…Blue Ocean…I wonder how the heck she came up with that. I guess it could have been something worse, like Cosmic River."

Harry glanced at Matt, who seemed to be searching for split ends in his blond hair. He wondered whether it was a good idea for a Combat Ranger to have hair that long. It was between shoulder and elbow length. Harry thought it would just get in the way, although Matt seemed to have found a solution by gathering the hair from the top of his head at the back, to keep it from falling into his face. Since the hair growing from the back and the sides wouldn't likely bother his vision, the Australian kept it loose, save for two thin braids near the temples, which were tucked behind his ears. 

For a moment, Harry envied Matt's easily manageable golden locks, which could easily have belonged to a fairy-tale prince, as opposed the scruffy-looking thatch on his own head. But Ginny seemed to like his untameable hair very much, so the envy drained away as quickly as it had surfaced. "So…does Captain Gigolo there have an embarrassing middle name too?"

Nathan nodded "Green Leaf …odd, really, how our mum managed to mess things up. Matt loves everything that's got to do with water and gets Green Leaf, while I love the forest, but I'm stuck with Blue Ocean. Good thing our dad had enough sense to give us regular first names."

A circle detached itself from the ceiling on glided down, carrying Doc and Ivanova, who could patch up injuries. Harry knew she could handle herself in a fight. She'd done well in India, about a year ago. Serafina Esposito was onboard too, as a second mediwizard and second pilot. It was a good thing that she would stay on board, because Harry didn't want to worry about her too.

"Twenty minutes," Doc said. "Be ready to move out."

Harry rose and addressed his fellow Combat Rangers. "All right, check all your equipment." He tried to recall all the things Wolfe would say before he addressed his fellow Combat Rangers. "It's our job to keep the others safe while they do the important stuff."

Everybody laughed at that, letting some of the tension drain away.

"Lota…you've got the Spinner, right?"

The wizard nodded.

"Farouk?"

"Crossbow," the Iraqi wizard replied, showing a small and compact crossbow used for short distances. It was a magical version of a Chinese repeating crossbow, making a much higher rate of fire than a Muggle crossbow could ever produce.

"Have you got some Erumpment Fluid-tipped darts?"

"Seven."

Harry nodded and looked at Nathan, who was folding away his parchment. "Nathan?"

"I'll just be carrying the telescoping staff," he said, holing out a foot-long hollow tube that looked a little like a scroll container. The he pressed a button, transforming the foot-long tube into a six-foot staff.

"That's it?"

"I have to carry the explosive charges too, remember?" 

Harry nodded. Only Nathan was strong enough to physically carry the load without being too impaired. "Gudrun, are the charges okay?"

"I'll pretend that I didn't hear that," Gudrun said, as she finished strapping on her armour.

"Matt?"

"I have no idea how this place we're going to looks on the inside, but I reckon a hybrid-bow might come in handy in case we need to take out a target quietly and it's beyond the crossbow's range." 

Harry nodded. While they could shoot arrows out of their wands, they were on a stealth mission and could therefore only use their wands when secrecy was not an issue anymore. The bow also had several enchantments that silenced the thwang of the bowstring, and even the faint whisper of the arrow in flight. A simple command could also activate an enchantment in the bowstring, making it razor sharp, and allowing the bow to function as a slashing weapon.

"I'm taking the Tuning Sword too, in case we have to knock someone out without harming him too much," —he patted the sides of his armour, where two slender daggers with blades over a foot long, hung suspended on the same belt that strapped the arrow quiver to his back— "But I have no idea where I can leave it…" 

"I'll take it." Gudrun said.

"Do you know how to use it?" Matt frowned.

"Want to find out?"

"No thanks!" Matt said.

Harry slung the scabbard containing Wolfe's Phoenix Katana over his shoulder and belted it in place. He'd been surprised to find out that Wolfe had left him the sword. It hadn't rejected him, something these types of magical weapons did sometimes, so apparently he'd been deemed worthy. He'd spent as much time as possible training himself in its use.

He couldn't tell whether it was his imagination or not, but it felt like the sword exuded warmth, through the armour and against his back, as if Wolfe were watching over his shoulder. He swallowed. "Eighteen minutes to touchdown."

*

Harry peered through the greenish looking landscape. There wasn't anything in sight, living or undead. The entrance to the underground complex had to be around there somewhere. Why did they always have to be underground? He hated going underground. It made him feel boxed in.

"I found the entrance," Doc's voice sounded through his ear-piece. "I don't like the looks of this, though. Let me see if there's another way in."

They walked for half a mile, while Doc sniffed around for another entrance. 

"Come on, Doc," Matt complained. "Why can't we just go in?"

"My instincts tell me that something isn't quite right with that entrance. It was well hidden, but the location was too obvious for my tastes. Call it Goblin instinct. I know when I'm being set up."

"Ah, here we go!" Doc said after about ten minutes. "Okay, we're going to do this a bit differently. "Nathan, give me your smallest charge, please."

"Doc, what are you doing?" Harry asked.

"A tunnel comes within four feet of the surface. I'm going to blow a hole that'll function as a makeshift door. Don't worry…echolocation suggests that it isn't a frequently used tunnel, and the walls are uneven, so that sounds of the blast won't carry well. It's the best place!"

It was Doc's call, and he knew what he was talking about. Three minutes later, they were all in a tunnel Harry couldn't wait to get out of. It only allowed them to walk single file, and the ceiling was incredibly low. Harry could walk standing up most of the time, but Matt and Nathan were having a tough time with their heights.

"Stop…silence!" Doc, who'd been leading, hissed. They all stopped and stood as quietly as possible while Doc stared down the tunnel. "Okay, we can go now."

"What was it?" Harry, who was third in file, behind Gudrun, asked.

"I heard footsteps. It sounded human. It had to be. Vampires move too silently for me to hear them at this range," Doc replied.

"Gudrun… the Tuning Sword," Harry said.

"Good idea." Doc nodded. "Shhh…I hear 'em again…bloody hell, there are three, blocking the entrance to this tunnel. They're just talking about stuff…no tenseness. They don't know we're coming." 

Slowly, and as quietly as possible moved closer and closer, until they reached a sharp turn. Light fell on the wall, and Harry saw the shadow of a man. Doc turned and looked back at Harry, nodding and raising three fingers.

Harry nodded and tapped his chest, signalling that he'd take care of them. But it was still extremely risky. Then he got an idea. He took off his goggles and pointed from Doc's goggles to his own. Then she stretched out his arm, holding the goggles at an angle. He wanted to be able to look around the corner before he charged.

Doc caught on quickly and grinned. He took off his own goggles and manipulated a few buttons on their side. Soon, Harry's left eye saw a shifting image of the cave through Doc's goggles, as Doc crawled forward and pushed his goggles out so Harry could see around the corner. 

Harry closed his right eye to make it easier, and saw what looked like three giants standing there. One of them was smoking a cigarette and kept a casual eye on the tunnel. But he was completely oblivious to Doc's goggles poking around the corner. So Harry wriggled past Gudrun and stepped over Doc. Concentrating, he tapped into the core of his being. He felt himself being filled by the pure energy, seemingly making him lighter than air. Then he disconnected the visual feed from Doc's goggles, activated the Tuning Sword and bolted around the corner much faster than humans could move. Only the guard furthest from the tunnel caught a glimpse of him before being stunned.

They quickly bound the bodies with unbreakable magic cuffs and hauled them into the tunnel, out of sight. Their absence would probably raise a flag in the security network if a patrol came by and found that they weren't there. But their unconscious forms in plain sight would cause a lot more consternation and put the base on full alert instantly. In both cases, they'd be discovered, but the extra few minutes earned by hiding the guards could mean the difference between life and death.

Lota and Delmar remained behind in the tunnel to take care of any patrols that might investigate the lack of contact from the guards. They'd have to be dealt with as well, and even though that wouldn't solve the problem, it would buy the team another few minutes.

Doc also chose to let Ivanova remain behind with them given the fact that her abilities wouldn't be needed if everything went according to plan. And while Harry knew that hardly anything ever went according to plan, he too saw no need for Ivanova to go deeper into the compound. She and the other two Rangers could always be called if they would be needed.

No further opposition was encountered as they carefully infiltrated the base further. Then, after a good half an hour, they came upon what looked like an observation point that overlooked a huge chamber.

As Harry took a peek over the edge, his heart stopped. It looked like some sort of necromancy workshop. An Asian wizard holding a staff that looked like someone's spine, with a shrunken head perched on top, strode around as he if owned the place, giving instructions to some wizards and vampire ghouls that milled about between huge basins filled with preservative fluids. Huge dead monsters floated around in those translucent tanks.

"Hey!" Doc whispered, jumping up and down. He was too short to look over the edge. "What's going on down there?"

"Shall I describe it to you, or should I find you a box?" Matt joked. 

Harry glared at him, but he immediately realised that this was Matt's way of dealing with the pressure. "We can't handle this alone. We need backup!"

"We can't!" Doc, who was being lifted up by Nathan, said. "It looks like they're preparing to relocate. At this rate, they'll be gone in a few hours. And that necromancer, that's Yamato! We can't let him get away. We have to find out how they plan to travel, and sabotage it. Gudrun, contact the cruiser and tell them to forward the images my goggles are transmitting to the Citadel."

"Right away," Gudrun said, and began speaking into her broadcaster in hushed tones.

"Doc, we know very little of the layout of the place, and there are hundreds of ghouls down there," Harry voiced his concerns. 

"We can always use our emergency Portkeys if things get out of hand," The half-goblin replied. "We have a mission to accomplish, Ranger Potter."

Harry winced at Doc's choice of words…Ranger Potter. He'd been put in his place. Matt's questioning glance wasn't helping either. They probably thought he was a coward, but the fact of the matter was that he didn't feel like unnecessarily risking his neck now that he had Ginny to come home to.

He looked at Nathan, who surely would understand him. He had Helga waiting for him. But the look of grim determination given by Nathan's square and blocky features told him that he was mistaken. Harry took a deep breath, forcing his apprehensive feeling away. Wolfe hadn't died just so he could chicken out at the sight of a daunting enemy. "All right, what's the plan?"

"We cause a diversion and plant tracers on things they're not likely to leave behind." Doc explained, "The moment we reveal ourselves, they'll assume that we've already contacted the Order about this place, so they'll want to evacuate."

"Uh…Doc, Gaal says he isn't receiving a visual feed from your goggles." Gudrun said. 

Doc narrowed his goblinesque eyes. "I'm sure they're working. We can't be out of range."

"Unless we're being jammed. Contact with the Cruiser is very shaky…and I'm already using Lota and Gloria's broadcasters as relay points."

Delmar and Lota were still at their stations. Harry sighed with relief. Since this compound was hours from being abandoned, the bad guys probably didn't bother with patrols anymore.

"Patrol," Farouk, who was further down the hall as a lookout, reported though the ear-pieces. "Orders?"

"Damn. Gudrun, how many invisibility cloaks do you have in your pack?"

"Just two," the Icelandic witch whispered anxiously, while she dug in her pack. "You and I could fit under one, and maybe even Harry and I, but the Kellys would need their own—"

"They're coming awfully close," Farouk repeated. "I can't stay here."

Doc spoke into the broadcaster mouthpiece, "Retreat to this position—"

"I've been spotted," Farouk said urgently. "I can give you a minute, but I'll need help."

Not even consciously thinking about what he was doing, Harry began issuing orders. "Doc, you'd better put on your invisibility cloak and get down there to do whatever you have to do. Matt, help Farouk." 

"I need someone to help me with setting the charges."

"Nathan will go with you."

Gudrun shook her head. "But I'm more familiar with…"

"How were you planning to carry that pack?" Harry pointed to the huge pack only the Kelly brothers could carry without too much trouble. "Levitate it with your wand? You'll need it to defend yourself! Farouk can only hold them off for half a minute."

Doc took the cloaks Gudrun was now holding and handed one to Nathan. "He's right, Gudrun. We can't share a cloak, we'd move too slowly. It has to be Nathan and me. You're more valuable up here." With that, he and Nathan threw the cloaks over their bodies and disappeared from sight.

"Remember, vampires have exceptional hearing and smell. Try to stay as far away from them as possible. We'll try to focus their attention on us by raising hell." Harry tried to sound confident, despite the fact that his heart pounded in his throat. But now that preventing discovery was not an issue anymore, they might as well try to accomplish the mission to the best of their abilities. "Contact us as soon as you're done, so we can Portkey out."

"What if the transmission gets jammed?" Doc's disembodied voice asked. "Wait…I'll just set off the first three charges in quick succession. That's the alternative signal."

"Good one, Doc," Harry agreed. Then he turned to Gudrun. "Let's go!"

***

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musicgirl225: I don't have any Draco bashing planned for the time being, but I may get inspired.

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nycgal: Thank you very much. These comments are what make things worth it for me.

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Zaz: I am evil, aren't I?

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Gogirl: Yep, you were right, as you can see. ;-) 

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psychochick: The chapter answered your question.

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OmegaNY: People are going to die. Whether you choose to believe their deaths is another thing. I only said I wouldn't pretend to kill off Harry. I never extended that to other characters. ;-) If it makes you feel any better, this is the last time I'll pretend to kill off one of the good guys. Can't say the same for the bad guys...no, I haven't planned anything yet in that regard. The unexpected return of a bad guy is a widely used plot point. But I digress…

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rowan: Quite simple, as you can see, Same formula, only this time it was the bad guys who came up with it.

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Ciara: Sorry it's taking so long. I'll probably pick up the pace of my writing in a month or so. Until then you're going to have to be patient. :-(

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Lana Riddle: Yes, Wolfe is still around, for now.

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Ginny1946: I noticed that too, that many HP fans have a lot of other common interests.

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Petals: No, no, no, sweetheart :-) That's the beauty of point of view writing. _Ginny, _judging by the look on Harry's face, thought he was dead. But that was from Ginny's POV. And being a character in the story, she isn't all knowing. Hmmm, who is to die next? That's the question, isn't it? I'll work very hard to shorten the update gaps, and The Maker is the word I use to denote the major deity in any given religion. It's a nice and neutral name. I could use God or Allah or Yahweh, but that wouldn't be fair to the rest.

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pamela-potter-24: Draco indeed pulled a Max, sort of.

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spark37: I tremendously enjoyed writing the Draco bashing.

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someone: Thanks, stranger. :-)

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Lamina Court: Is Harry going to save him? I dunno, that would be telling, wouldn't it?

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Maab: Always write down your ideas. 

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Bubblez fairy: Updated!

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Nosgoroth: Dramatic irony, my friend. I merely informed you how things would seem from Harry's POV. You can't expect me to give away the story, can you?

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Kathryn: I stand by what I said. He _is _expendable. Doesn't mean I'll kill him off, but I will if I have to.

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The.grey.lady: Good deduction. 

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Casual Reader: I didn't see another solution either. 

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Punkin: How can you be sure that Max will survive this?


	12. Heroes' Trial

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Heroes' Trial

Chapter 12

Following the sounds of battle, Gudrun and Harry rushed to where Farouk and Matt were fighting. 

Matt's severely distorted voice revealed that he was hard-pressed, as Harry heard the report through his ear-piece. "We're in trouble, Harry. Our wands don't work! Our artefacts still work with their enchantments, and I can still do some wand-less magic…but…" —the communication faltered— "have to hurry!"

Harry desperately wanted to increase his speed magically, but he wasn't about to leave Gudrun behind in there. Matt and Farouk could take care of themselves. They didn't necessarily need their wands to fight. 

Fortunately, the Tuning Sword could do much more than just stun. The twin blades were razor sharp and could easily lop off limbs. He didn't know how well Gudrun could wield the sword, but he had no choice but to take her into battle with him.

"Gudrun, how come our wands don't work?"

"I don't know." Gudrun said hurriedly. "I think I heard something about Yamato trying to design an anti-magic field generator that countered the focussing properties of magic wands. Gaal told me about it. Yamato's had years to bring his theories into practice. Maybe this is it."

"Anti-magic? But our artefacts and weapons are still working."

"They've got enchantments on them," she said hurriedly. "It's not the same as _casting _spells…although…"

"What?" Harry spared a quick glance and saw Gudrun fiddle with her Portkey. "What are you doing?"

Gudrun didn't answer. Instead, her lips formed a thin line as she let her arm drop to her side again and quickened her pace. "Although, a field of this kind could block communication and teleportation magic, and it did. My Portkey isn't working."

"What?" Harry could feel the panic rise in him. Wishing to alert Doc, Harry activated his broadcaster, only to find out that Doc and Nathan were out of reach. The inside of his goggles, which were linked to his broadcaster, flashed a message telling him this. "Damn."

"Don't worry. The way our broadcasters are behaving, I'm sure Doc suspects that the Portkeys are being jammed too."

"How can we counter this?" 

"We have to find whatever is doing this, and destroy it—"

Gudrun couldn't say more, because just then, they ran into a group of five zombies in varying stages of decay, which were coming out of a narrow side corridor and were moving to attack Matt and Farouk from the rear. Not the best frontline soldiers, but in sheer numbers they could be dangerous, especially since no one had a working wand.

Harry tapped into his core, drawing from the secret source of power he'd unlocked upon the revelation that Ginny loved him. The same warm feeling he got whenever Ginny was with him stole through his body. Everything seemed to slow down around him as he drew his sword. One by one, he decapitated the zombies, the only way to stop this particular kind of undead. He just hoped that the dark magic used to animate them wasn't so strong as to make the bodies come after them even after decapitation, which was sometimes the case with spells produced by really powerful necromancers. And even though Yamato could be considered powerful, Harry didn't think he'd waste such a draining charm on these rather decayed corpses.

Not stopping to see the heads tumble from the shoulders in slow motion, Harry bolted towards Farouk and Matt, who'd been holding off a large mob of zombies very similar to the ones he'd just beaten.

The strain he was beginning to feel from harnessing the immense power forced him to release the power again. However, the warmth remained in his hands. Looking at them, he saw the sword glowing with power. Its magic had been activated somehow…because phoenixes were symbols of death and rebirth, and these undead creatures clearly went against that universal rule, Harry realised.

It was as if the sword was talking, telling him what to do. He aimed the blade at the three-dozen or so zombies and the sword did the rest. The blade transformed into a sparkling red flame and blossomed outwards in a cone shaped blast, turning the zombies to ashes within seconds.

"By the bloody Big Bunyip, what the hell was that?" Matt asked after a moment, looking from the sword to the smoking piles of ashes in front of him.

Harry shrugged. He himself had no idea what the sword was exactly capable of. "I didn't feel any heat from the blast. Did you?"

Matt shook his head. "No. Farouk, did you feel any heat?"

"I did not." The Iraqi wizard frowned. Then he took off his glove and briefly touched the wall. He obviously felt no heat, for he rested his hand against the stone wall after the initial probe. "The walls are not hot either. It must have been pure magical fire."

"Wow!" Gudrun said in awe. "Harry, do you have any idea how valuable that sword has to be? I wonder what Lei Li did that warranted such a gift. It must be an heirloom of the entire Phoenix Clan. This must've been forged with ancient, powerful and nearly forgotten magic."

Harry knew it was just Gudrun's artificer's nature to ponder these things, but they had other fish, or rather, zombies, to fry at the moment. "We can work that out later. First, we have to find whatever is disrupting our wands, and destroy it."

"If it's portable-sized, we have to try and switch it off and keep it in one piece." Gudrun said.

"You want to take it with us?"

"If possible. If we figure out how it works, we might devise some countermeasures."

"How do you propose we find it?" Matt frowned.

Gudrun rolled back her eyes. "Do you think I'd suggest finding it if I didn't have a plan? Really! Stick to what you're good at. If there isn't anything to fight, just stand there, keep your mouth shut and be pretty. Leave the thinking to those of us who are good at it."

The look that Matt got in his eyes whenever some wisecrack formed in his mind came out, but he seemed to bite his tongue at the last minute. Instead, he stuck to the business at hand. "So what was your plan?"

"It seems our communication gets worse the closer we come to this jamming device,"—she activated her broadcaster, and her voice suddenly rang in their ear-pieces— "the worse the signal from our broadcaster gets. When we can't hear each other anymore, even at this range, we'll know we're nearly on top of the treasure."

"Like a metal detector, only the sound will diminish, instead of increase." Harry nodded. "Good to know we've got some brains to lead us."

Gudrun's cheeks turned pink and she looked very pleased with herself.

"Well, well, a good brain as well as a butt that just won't quit." Matt grinned. "But will your plan work if this device has an effective magic shutdown range of a hundred yards or more?"

"Do you have a better idea?" Gudrun snapped.

Matt held up his hands diplomatically. "Just asking…Hey, would it make any difference in the transmission if I stand where I am now, or right next to you, if we're being jammed?"

Gudrun nodded. "Distance is in direct relation to the quality of the link." She looked at Harry. "We may have to stand cheek to cheek when we get really close to the source."

"Oh, pick me, pick me!" Matt said, jumping up and down theatrically.

Gudrun snorted, but the tension drained out of her expression. "Shut up, you!"

"We have to get going!" Harry said. "The sooner we disable or destroy this thing, the faster we can get out of here. Which way?"

Gudrun walked about fifty metres along the ash-filled corridor, and spoke. "How's this?"

Her words sounded very faint in his ear-piece.

"I think it's that way," Harry said. 

He glanced at the sword again. It seemed to lack much of the energy it had held earlier, and Harry suspected that it would need to recharge for a while before it could once again perform that particular feat.

For one long hour, they searched through the maze of tunnels, looking for the source that prevented them from using their wands. Now, according to the increasing limits on their communication artefacts, Gudrun deduced they had to be really close. 

They came upon a large chamber that, from the looks of it, must have served as a command and control of sorts, they could see a reddish glow emanate from a pit inside the room and they could hear a hum that reminded Harry of a swarm of attacking doxies. That had to be whatever was jamming their wands, and logically, something so valuable to the enemy was likely to have guards.

The emblems of scarlet triangles with the droplet of blood in the middle made his heart stop beating for a split second. The guards were the fabled Bloodhounds. The Order's intelligence sources had heard of this special unit within Anastasiou's organisation, but none of the patrols had actually encountered them before.

According to their sources it consisted of anywhere between sixteen to twenty-six skilled wizards, and vampires which were at least one hundred years old and had all the powers that vampires gained as they aged.

Even though there were only four of them, all vampires, Harry didn't think any of his companions could fight them off without their wands. The vampires had weapons too, and were faster and stronger than their human adversaries. More than ever, Harry missed Wolfe, who would likely have been able to take them all with his bare hands without breaking a sweat.

He knew he could also hold his own against one or two of these vampires, and under more favourable conditions, all of them. But the fact of the matter was that he was trapped below ground in an area with Apparition wards and an artefact that prevented him from using his wand. To make matters worse, his adversaries were wearing a new type of armour that looked very solid, and Harry had no doubt in his mind that the armour would easily turn Matt and Farouk's arrows.

He glanced at the other Rangers. Gudrun was looking very pale, instinctively taking a step backward to hide behind Matt. The grim Australian threw his bow to Farouk, who didn't have any short-range weapons, and drew his long twin daggers, stepping in front of Gudrun protectively. Farouk activated the enchantment on the bow to turn the string razor sharp and ready for some serious cutting.

Knowing he had to get everyone out in one piece, Harry opened himself up to the power within, concentrating like he'd never concentrated before. He had to maintain the power-increase long enough to dispatch these vampires, but he knew it was going to be hard. He drew his katana and charged the nearest vampire.

Its pale face showed it had clearly been startled by the fact that Harry's speed was equal, if not superior to its own. But it successfully blocked his attack and answered with a riposte of its straight-sword.

Harry's desperation grew as he witnessed two more vampires approach from the corner of his eye, knowing that these reinforcements would help their comrades make short work of them if he didn't do something quickly. He knew he had to dispatch his adversary quickly so he could help the others, who were hard pressed to defend themselves. It was time to fight creatively, like Wolfe had taught him. 

He spun around, pretending to make a powerful backhanded sweeping attack with his blade, fully expecting the vampire to choose ducking over blocking the sword, which it indeed chose to do. But now that Harry was overextended, the vampire counterattacked, using the same attack that Harry had just used, in an attempt to decapitate Harry. Harry leapt over the attack and drove hid katana into the skull of the vampire.

While not fatal to the vampire, the attack was enough to incapacitate it and leave it defenceless. This was a good thing, since Harry couldn't have finished it off even if he'd wanted to, because a second vampire was attacking him with a heavy battle-axe. 

Harry focussed on the axe briefly before making a shoving gesture as he attempted a wand-less banishing charm. It worked beautifully, and sent the heavy axe crashing into the back of one of the vampires that had been trying to get past Matt to threaten Gudrun, who was the easiest prey. She was bleeding rather profusely from a wound in her neck, which she was clutching tightly to stop the flow of blood, but it continued to seep through her fingers. One of the vampires must have tried to indulge its thirst for blood. But it should have waited until the battle was done, because now it would pay for its arrogance. 

Matt took advantage of the vampire's distraction and surged forward, crossing the blades of his daggers and cutting off the vampire's head as if he were using a pair of large scissors. This left his flank exposed, and to Harry's horror, the second vampire moved to exploit this. However, Gudrun stepped in and blocked the blow that had been meant for Matt.

The vampire staggered back, clutching its sword and struggling to remain on its feet. Clever as always, Gudrun had activated the Tuning Sword as she blocked the vampire's slash, and the vampire was now trying to shake off the stunning effect. But Matt never gave it the chance, and another head rolled over the floor of the chamber soon after. Then Gudrun and Matt rushed over to Farouk, who had shot a dart into one of the Vampire's faces at point blank range, but was in serious trouble with the remaining two.

But Harry was forced to mind his other business again, as the vampire he'd disarmed with the wand-less charm charged him with claws extended. Harry summoned the sword of the downed vampire and tangled it in the vampire's legs. 

The agile creature succeeded in turning its trip-up into a gravity-defying somersault, and it plucked the weapon from between its legs in mid-air before it softly landed some five metres away, on the other side of the pit. Then it turned away and escaped in one of the passages.

Harry briefly considered going after it, but decided to help Farouk and Matt, who were clearly having trouble fending off their faster and stronger opponents. Several gashes along their Graphorn armour skin attested to the fact that it had probably saved their lives more often than once in this battle alone. He sprinted over to Farouk and knocked the vampire's rapier out of line.

It jumped backward, narrowly avoiding the razor-sharp bowstring. But Harry didn't give it a chance to take a better stance. He immediately followed up Farouk's attack with a thrust of his own, instead of a sweeping attack, which the vampire had clearly expected, for it had begun to duck. Instead, Harry's blade pierced one of its eyes and emerged through the back of the vampire's head. As the creature collapsed, the remaining vampire leapt away and fled into one of the other entryways. 

Harry finally released the awesome power he'd been wielding, and the pressure in his entire being seemed to diminish. It had left him exhausted, and he didn't know how many more times he'd be able to draw on his power like that.

Matt was already dealing with Gudrun's injury, and searched a pouch that Gudrun had taken over from Ivanova when they'd left the mediwitch at the entrance with Gedeon. He quickly took out a bottle filled with translucent liquid and poured it into Gudrun's wounds. Gudrun stopped losing blood as the wounds quickly sealed, courtesy of the phoenix tears. Harry silently thanked the four Concordian phoenixes for their helping the Order of Illumination, and vowed to visit them to show his appreciation somehow.

Phoenix tears were fine agents to close wounds and counter poison, but they couldn't completely compensate for all the blood Gudrun had lost. She still looked a bit pale as she looked at Matt and offered him a shaky smile. "Thanks for getting that vampire off me. My hero!"

Matt blushed and cleared his throat. "Just doing what I'm supposed to do," he muttered. "I owe you one too. My head would've been shish-kebabed by the vampire if you hadn't stepped in."

"Let me have some of that," Farouk said, as he took the bottle from Matt and poured a few drops into a particularly nasty looking flesh wound, where the vampires must have scored a hit. "Their weapons were coated with poison. It is a good thing that we have a supply of phoenix tears," he said, as his wounds closed up too.

Harry quickly chopped off the heads of the two incapacitated vampires, which had obviously regenerated, as they had begun to stir again. Then he strode over to the pit and looked down. It looked like a stone cube with lots of runes carved into it. "Gudrun, is this it?"

"It certainly looks like it," she answered, as she walked over to have a closer look, leaning heavily on Matt. "Get me down there so I can figure out how to shut it off."

"We don't have much time," Farouk said. "The bloodsuckers that got away have probably worked out the reason of our presence. They must have gone for reinforcements."

"Then we'd better hurry," Gudrun said. "Matt, lower me into the pit."

The Australian, however, was looking uncomfortable. "I don't know if you should go down there. I bet Yamato's booby-trapped it."

"How do you know?" Harry frowned.

"Ron told me. He said it would fit in Yamato's character profile to place traps everywhere."

"Ron said that?" Harry asked, surprised.

"We talked about these things when we were on patrol together."

Harry looked down into the six-foot pit. Ron had keen insight when it came to these things. "Then we'll just have to destroy it."

"With what?" Gudrun shook her head. "We need our wands to activate the Curse Capsules. Damn, I knew I should have pre-charmed the Curse Capsules" —she paused as something else drew her attention— "Your sword is glowing again. "Maybe it'll do the job."

Harry drew the weapon from its sheath. It crackled with energy once more, and the warmth returned to his hands as he held it, partially restoring some of the energy he'd expended while fighting.

When he'd fought the zombies, it had seemed like he'd been communicating with the weapon. Now, even though it seemed recharged, it wasn't talking to him. He had no idea what to do. "Err, all right, but what to I do now? I don't know how to handle this thing."

"You knew how to roast those zombies well enough." Matt pointed out.

"The sword almost did that by itself…it reacted to the zombies. It isn't reacting now, though."

"Perhaps you could slash it in two?" Farouk suggested.

"I don't know. It looks like it's made out of stone." He sighed. Then he remembered something Merlin had taught him: Magic over matter. All he had to do was concentrate. "All right, here it goes, but I'd feel better if you stood back."

The others nodded and retreated farther from the pit.

For the third time, Harry let the magical power flow through him, only this time he channelled some into the blade as well. It seemed to reward him with a feedback of invigorating energy, as he could feel his power grow even more, as if the sword were magnifying it.

He raised the blade and jumped into the pit, bringing the blade down on the magical cube as he dropped. For half a heartbeat, he seemed to freeze in time and space as the blade touched the cube. Then the cube emitted a huge shock wave that sent him flying backwards. A quick Shield Charm easily absorbed most of the wave, and he only flew halfway across the room, before landing and tumbling into a backward roll. To him, all this seemed to happen in slow motion.

The others weren't able to protect themselves nearly as well as Harry had. Farouk was thrown out of the chamber entirely, and flew through one of the passageways. But he'd been lucky compared to Matt, who was slammed into a wall with tremendous force, while trying to shield Gudrun from the impact. Gudrun had been standing behind Matt when Harry tried to destroy the cube, but he had somehow reversed their positions to soften the impact. But he'd been seriously hurt. He was lying in a heap along the wall, and Gudrun's desperate attempts to get a reaction were unsuccessful.

Harry looked at the cube, hoping his effort had at least done something to disable the cube. It was still glowing, but there was a huge crack on its top. The glow began to dim as the crack grew and ran down the entire length of the cube. Then the glow vanished altogether, and the two halves of the cube fell onto their sides.

Farouk came into the chamber again looking a bit winded, but otherwise all right. But Matt was still out cold.

"Matt…" The look in Gudrun's eyes became more and more panicked as she tried to get him to react. "Wake up…please." With difficulty she drew his upper body into her arms. She caressed the back of his head and her hand came away bloody. "Oh, no!"

Kneeling down beside them, Farouk checked Matt's vital signs. "Very shallow breathing and a weak pulse. He has a heavy concussion." He grimaced. "I shouldn't have wasted the phoenix tears on my trivial wound. We need Ivanova."

Harry shook his head. There hadn't been anything trivial about Farouk's wound. If the tears hadn't countered the poison in it, he'd have been worse off than Matt right now. But he knew how Farouk felt. Because of the limited supply, phoenix tears were actually only meant to heal damage that ordinary healing magic couldn't counter. But without working wands, the tears had been their only option.

Maybe one of the spells Ginny had taught him would work. He drew his wand and aimed it at the spot where the blood came from. He concentrated, flicked his wand, but nothing happened. "Uh oh! Our wands still aren't working."

"I was afraid of that," Gudrun said. "There must be more of those things scattered throughout this place. We'll have to find them and destroy them all. But we've got to make sure that Matt is okay first." She took the small bottle that had contained the phoenix tears and held it upside down over Matt's slightly parted lips. Slowly, the remaining liquid crept along the neck of the bottle and formed a drop. It fell into Matt's mouth, but there was no visible effect. Gudrun kept holding the bottle upside down, and managed to shake two small droplets out.

Matt's lips moved and he opened his eyes a little, looking at Gudrun. "Ma? Ma…" he croaked, before he lost consciousness again.

"Who?" Harry frowned. "He's delirious." 

"Maybe he was asking for his mother. Then again, he may just have been babbling," Farouk said, as he bent down to checked Matt's vital signs again. "As near as I can tell the tears helped a little. But he still needs to receive proper medical attention—"

"Matt!" a deep voice cried. Heavy footsteps pounded on the floor, and Nathan appeared out of nowhere as the invisibility cloak he'd been wearing slipped off. "What happened? Will he be all right?"

"He has a severe concussion, and we need to get him out as quickly as possible."

"Did you give him phoenix tears?" Doc asked.

"I got bitten in the artery in my neck, and Farouk was struck with a poisonous weapon. We used up most of the tears. We only had a few drops left," Gudrun said guiltily.

"That's all right, we've haven't used any of ours," Doc said reassuringly, as he produced a small bottle from his own first aid pouch. "First, we've got to pour some on the wound itself…" His long goblin-like fingers combed through Matt's hair until he found a nasty-looking cut. "He may have a cracked skull, and I'm not sure if the tears will heal that, but there's only one way to find out."

Harry nodded. "You might as well give it a try."

The wound sealed as Doc poured some drops along its length, but there seemed to be no change in Matt's condition, so Doc poured a few drops into his mouth as well. Still Matt wouldn't return to consciousness, and Doc was beginning to get worried. "I don't understand. I'm no mediwizard, but he should be showing signs of improvement."

"Ooh, it's all my fault, he was shielding me from the blow," Gudrun said, running her fingers through Matt's hair affectionately. Then, although Harry couldn't be sure, he thought he saw Matt's lips move ever so slightly. Maybe he was reacting to Gudrun's ministrations. 

Nathan must have seen it too, because he narrowed his eyes and looked at his brother intently. "Wait a sec…the tears healed him all right. He's faking!" He scowled and lightly nudged his brother's leg with his foot.

Matt's eyes snapped open and a mischievous grin swept over his face. "Sure, spoil my fun, Nathan!"

Gudrun huffed in outrage and shoved Matt away. "How could you! Do you any idea how worried you had me?"

Matt's eyes lit up and he clambered to his feet. "Why, Miss Njalsdottir, I didn't know you cared."

"In your dreams, Matt!" 

"Hey, you called me by my first name. Not Kelly, not Captain Gigolo…I'm wearing you down, sweetheart!"

"Bah, I just felt a little guilty, that's all. Get over yourself," Gudrun snapped.

"She's in the denial stage," Matt said, winking at Harry.

Harry, however, couldn't see the humour in it. "Damn it, Matt. Now is not the time to play those silly games."

Matt's grin evaporated. "Yes sir, Ranger Potter sir," he said, in a slightly mocking tone.

"Hey, stop acting like a baby, little brother," Nathan admonished. "You wasted valuable time with your antics. You ought to be put on report for this."

"I'm not going to put anyone on report," Doc said. "Now, we have to find that other anti-magic field generator and destroy it. I'm not going to risk an attempt to deactivate it, because Yamato is very good at planting traps. I'm not sure I could find them all. Besides, we don't time on our side."

"Do you have any idea where it is?" Harry asked.

"We think we know where it might be," Nathan answered. "We passed an area with increased security, mostly zombies and skeletons. But there were nearly a hundred of them. I couldn't hear Doc's broadcaster even though he was less than two feet away, so we reckon it's in that direction."

"Nearly a hundred zombies and skeletons? I don't like those odds, especially when we can't use our wands," Harry said. "And we've still got two Bloodhounds to worry about."

"They weren't so tough," Matt boasted.

Gudrun raised her eyebrow. "Really? I thought one of them would have, as you so colourfully put it, _shish-kebabed_ your head if it hadn't been for me." She tapped his chest-plate. "And they'd have cut you to ribbons if it hadn't been for this!" 

Matt shrugged. "Details."

"She saved your life?" Nathan eyed Gudrun shrewdly.

"Yeah…so? I plucked that bloodsucker off her as well. What're you smiling about?"

"Oh, nothing." Nathan said airily. "It's just that when a wizard saves another wizard's life—" 

"Are you implying that a bond was formed? We were just doing our jobs. I don't think that situation qualified," Gudrun said, scowling at Matt. "As if I'd ever wanted to be bonded with _him_ anyway."

"All right, I got the point. No need to rub it in." Matt smiled, although it was clearly a forced smile that didn't reach his eyes. 

With a start, Harry realised that Matt really _liked_ Gudrun. This was very odd, since Harry knew for a fact how long a single woman could hold Matt's attention, and it wasn't very long. If a woman didn't give in to his charms he shrugged it off and went on to the next one. But he seemed to look at Gudrun in a different light, and while Harry was no psychologist, he had a feeling that Matt hid his true feelings behind his façade of uncaring. Maybe Gudrun's feelings for him not going beyond friendship was the universe's way of exacting revenge on Matt for all the hearts he'd broken.

"So how did you destroy that cube?" Nathan asked Harry.

Harry pointed to his sword. "This is a more powerful magical weapon than I thought." He reached back and drew it out of its sheath, presenting it to Nathan.

"Hmmm, I wonder how much it would fetch on the black market," Doc said, as he examined the sword up close. "Hypothetically, of course!" he quickly added. "All right, we've wasted enough time standing around. Nathan and I have planted a few charges and tracers here and there, but we can't activate them while our broadcasters are jammed. Let's find that other cube."

Doc took the lead as they set out to find the other cube. They encountered no opposition at all, which made Harry feel a little uneasy, but didn't worry him outright, since the compound was being abandoned, after all.

After a while they ran into a dozen skeletons. However, those proved to be no obstacle at all for the four Combat Rangers and the skeletons were soon reduced to piles of bones.

"Taking us out requires more than a _skeleton crew,_" Nathan joked as he balanced the axe that had formerly been carried by one of the Bloodhounds that got away on his shoulder.

"These skeletons are just to slow us down. I bet they've been raised in the local cemeteries. They'll collapse as soon as Yamato is gone, as will the zombies," Doc said. "Enemy presence is much lighter than it was an hour ago. I think the evacuation is nearly complete. We're running out of time."

"Why is that?" Matt asked.

"Because if Yamato's psychological profile is at all accurate, I don't think he intends to let us get away. He'll blow this place up with us in it."

"But he can't leave while that cube is still working."

"Do you honestly believe that? I'm sure he invented something that would shield him from the cube's effects right after he invented the cube itself…if it _is _a cube. For all we know, this one may be shaped like a pyramid."

Matt shrugged and stepped on a broken skeleton's shield, causing its far end to flip up so he could grab it.

"Why would you need a shield?" Doc asked.

Matt tapped its silvery surface, and Harry saw that smooth dragon scales covered it. "It's covered with dragon hide. It may buy me an extra second or two, unless the bad guys start throwing killing curses. Like Doc said, Yamato probably has something that prevents the anti-magic field from affecting himself, or his magical tools and maybe even his wand. He's probably granted the same means to a select few of his henchmen, which means we've got a serious disadvantage."

Harry blinked. He hadn't even thought of that. Wolfe probably would have, but he was glad that the others shared the burden with him like this. "Good one, Matt."

"Well, well, a good brain as well as a butt that just won't quit." Gudrun smiled, using Matt's earlier remark against him.

Farouk chuckled and grinned under his thick moustache, but Matt apparently didn't find it funny. He shrugged indifferently. "Whatever."

"That was a compliment. What's your problem?"

"There's no problem. But I'm just a vain, dumb surfer boy, remember? Maybe I'll read too much behind it," Matt said gruffly. Then he turned to Doc. "If this place is going to blow, why are we wasting time by standing still?"

That said, they resumed their search for the second anti-magic device, and after using the increasingly shortening range of their broadcasters as an improvised scanner to narrow down their search, they found a damp corridor with a faint red light reflected off the walls at the far end.

It had to run parallel to an underground water source, because moisture beads formed on the left wall and streaked down to make the floor wet and slippery.

The light got brighter and brighter, and the corridor became broader, until they reached the landing at the top of narrow stairs that ran down into a large chamber similar to the one they seen Yamato in earlier. The bright light produced by the generator was kept in an antechamber at the far end of it.

Harry saw about two dozen rotting zombies, five vampire ghouls, the two Bloodhounds who got away, and a handful of wizards. Yamato was among them, and he turned to face the Rangers after the vampire that had fought Harry earlier alerted him to their presence. 

The necromancer laughed derisively at the Rangers. "Come here to capture me? I think not. I'd ask you to give Janos Gaal my regards, but that's impossible, because you won't be leaving this place."

"Bloody hell, get out of my way so I can put in arrow up his—" Matt yelled, but Yamato was already running towards the antechamber, followed by the wizards and the vampires. The zombies and the ghouls, with no self-preservation instincts, stayed behind to act as a buffer.

Nathan held the axe ready as he started down the ladder but as soon as he'd taken his first step, a foul smelling liquid shot out of a crack in the wall and splashed his armour. Startled, the big Australian stepped back. "What the…bloody hell, it's burning through the armour!"

Graphorn skin was even more resistant to fire, spells and other elements than dragon hide was. It must have been a powerful magical acid to be able to burn through it.

Nathan hastily removed his armour and examined it. The acid had burned a hole cleanly through it, and was now nibbling at the edges of the hole, widening it. It would have burned through his clothes and skin if he hadn't taken off his armour.

Doc had put on his goggles and was staring at the wall. "Good grief, he's put traps all along the wall. They're all multiple discharge," —his gaze followed the wall— "but I can see the deactivation switch. It's at the base of the stairs, right behind the ghouls."

"How can we get down there without springing the traps?" Gudrun too was now looking at the stairs through her V.E.G. goggles. "The way Harry moves, it shouldn't be a problem, but most of the steps are charmed to be slippery."

Harry frowned. He'd been planning to use his enhanced speed to run down the stairs, springing the traps as he went along but avoiding their discharge. "I could jump down and slow my fall with a levitation charm," he then proposed. I'll fight my past the ghouls, and Matt and Farouk can help me—"

"I don't think so," Doc said, looking down next to the stairs. "There's no floor there. It's an illusion charm, hiding a spiked pit."

Harry saw the reddish light turn purple. "What's that?"

"They've opened a portal," Doc said.

Harry understood. Blue light mixed with the red would turn purple. He swallowed. Yamato was about to leave, and they had no way to get past the traps. "Uh, any ideas?"

***

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Author's Note: I'm going to try and speed up the updates, so I'll try to maintain a ten day instead of a two week gap between updates. It isn't much, but it's the best I can do right now. So if you want to read the next chapter as soon as possible, look for the date of posting for the last chapter, and add ten days. That's when you can expect the next chapter.

You know, there are lots of people who put me on their favourites list, which is very flattering and encouraging, but it doesn't work as well as leaving a review. Its one of the things that make writing more enjoyable. After all, a writer's ego is very important, and it needs constant nourishment. It also makes me write faster, and since I'm racing the OoTP publish date deadline, I need all the help I can get. I'm not complaining, mind you. You've all been very kind to me, oh noble readers. 

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Lord Tiger VII: Nice of you to leave a review. Yeah, Harry can lead, as long as he's not really aware that he's doing it. :-) But he's not going to get promoted again so soon.

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Ginny1946: I can't answer questions that could potentially give away the story.

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Petals: I think it was a bit shorter, yeah. As for Wolfe…see the answer I gave Ginny 1946. Invisibility Cloaks are rare, according to cannon, so I've kept them rare in my story. The order _does_ have a few, but not enough to equip all the Rangers with them at all times. Doc is about five feet tall. In PS, the goblin at the door of Gringotts was described as being a head shorter than Harry. So not all goblins are as short as the actor who played Griphook in the film. I think I've reached the halfway point of the story now.

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rowan: There is going to be another Legolas moment in the next chapter. :-)

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nycgal: They _do_ seem made for each other, don't they?

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Gogirl: Ironheart's wife? I don't think I've ever given her any dialogue, except when she answered the call for Ironheart. Maybe you meant Wolfe's grandmother when she fussed over him after he woke up from his coma.

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Lamina Court: I can't answer any questions that could potentially give away the story. ;-) And forgive me for linking Matt to Legolas. I'm just in a LoTR phase in my life right now, and it reflects everything I do.

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Casual Reader: Why indeed?

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RogueAngel: About the love letters, ah, well…sorry, but I can't answer that. You'll have to wait for the next chapter.

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the.grey.lady: Original writer? Hardly! Do you know how many quotes I've borrowed left and right? But thanks anyway. You're praise means a lot. Oh, and Draco already knows about Harry's attachment to Ginny. Sound like someone needs to re-read the final chapters of EaL. ;-) I can't promise anything regarding Max. All the Rangers deserve to live happily ever after, But their work is extremely dangerous, and every so often one will die.

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Blue Roses: I'm going as fast as I possibly can, woman!

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A-Potter-Person: Hey, even Stackpole and Allston can't claim the 'dying and returning' plot for themselves. It's an ancient plot device. And I neatly disclaimed whenever I used some of their quotes, be it adapted, or word for word.

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ExCaLiBeR: Do you mean the Hogwarts years, or the two pre-Ranger but post-Hogwarts years. Nah, I'm not going to touch the Hogwarts years. As for the pre-Ranger years, I'm not going there either. Harry would be at the height of his anguish as everyone was shunning him. It would be too hard for me to write convincingly. I'm not that good.

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Lana Riddle: I'll be focussing elsewhere in the story for a while, but I think Wolfe and Malfoy might return in chapter 15.

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bubblez fairy: Yup, Aberforth is Gandalf, and Matt is Legolas. 


	13. Confronted with Mortality

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Disclaimer: More LoTR moments. ;-)

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Confronted with Mortality

Chapter 13

Harry groaned and tried his best to concentrate and think of a solution to the problem. 

"There has to be a mechanism somewhere on this side, Doc," Gudrun argued.

"Perhaps, but not necessarily. There are more passages into that chamber, and this strikes me as the most obvious one, one clearly meant to lead unwelcome visitors into a trap," Doc replied. 

Harry wondered what Wolfe would've done at a time like this. Glancing downwards next to the stairs, he decided that he'd just have to take his chances with the pit and hope there weren't more lethal things than those spikes in it. "Doc, I'm going to—"

"Stand aside and give me some space," he heard Matt say.

"What?" Harry turned around to see what Matt was up to, but before he could completely turn around, Nathan's big hand landed on his shoulder and pulled him out of the way. He caught a brief glimpse of Matt's blurry form shooting past him, clutching his bow.

The Australian was balancing on the shield he'd taken earlier, and hit the stairs at a considerable speed. The acid trap that had destroyed Nathan's armour discharged harmlessly behind him as he drew arrow after arrow from his quiver and shot three vampire ghouls, piercing them through the heart, as he surfed down the stairs, springing the traps but moving too fast for them to harm him. As he neared the bottom, he was too close to the last ghoul to shoot it. Instead, he kicked the shield, which had a sharp upper edge, at the fourth ghoul, taking its head clean off.

All the momentum he'd gathered as he'd slid down the stairs was enough to carry him over the last few steps and land at the base of the stairs. He landed in front of the last ghoul, and stabbed it through the heart with an arrow, using it as a makeshift stake. Then he used his longbow to reach out and pull down the lever, before he activated the sharpening spell on the bowstring and cut down the closest zombie. No longer having the element of surprise, he beat a hasty retreat, putting some distance between himself and the zombies.

"He did it, the traps are deactivated," Doc said.

Doc had barely finished his sentence, when Harry bolted down the stairs, careful to avoid the puddles of acid left by the acid traps, Nathan and Farouk close on his heels. They also knew that while zombies weren't resurrected to be intelligent, it was no guarantee that they didn't have enough intelligence to reactivate the traps again.

Harry was surprised as his first swing to take off the lead zombie's head missed. Then he noticed how some of the zombies had tentacles and other limbs attached to their torsos. These weren't ordinary zombies, but enhanced ones. They weren't going to be as easy to beat as ordinary zombies or skeletons.

The zombie's counter-attack was cut short, however, as Nathan split it from head to groin with one mighty stroke of his axe. At virtually the same time, the other two zombies nearest to it were struck by hollow darts containing Erumpment Fluid. Harry and Nathan scrambled away, partly to gain a better position, and partly just to avoid being covered by decaying remains when the zombies exploded.

"Harry." Doc, who had come down the stairs last, pointed at the antechamber, which was still emitting a purple glare. "Destroy that thing so we can use our wands!"

"Be careful!" Nathan yelled after him, as he sprinted away. As he ran, he opened himself up to the energy in deep within his soul once more. It seemed to get easier and less draining every time he did it. His body was getting used to it.

The energy coursed through his body, once more taking his strength, speed, and senses a good deal beyond the human capacity. He cleaved a zombie that had been trying to block the way in half and continued on, alert for any kind of ambush that could be waiting on the other side. It was logical to assume that the beings inside had heard the sounds of battle and prepared accordingly.

He wasn't disappointed, nor, fortunately, surprised, as a wicked-looking dagger whistled through the air, coming straight at him. Jerking his head sideways was enough to avoid it, and it clattered on the stone wall behind him.

The portal, very similar to the ones in Concordia, had just finished stabilising from the looks of it, and Yamato was about to step through it. Harry growled as anger and frustration bubbled to the surface of his mind. If Doc had been right, they'd all be dead the moment Yamato stepped through that portal. The fact that his wizard henchmen practically dove into the light supported that theory. Clearly, they didn't want to be left behind.

Stopping Yamato from leaving was his only option. His mission was clear. He hurled his sword at the top of the portal, and it tumbled end over end, striking the arch in the middle and emitting a blinding flash of light just as Yamato stepped through. He'd done it just in time. A confused Yamato was standing at the other side of the broken portal, staring at a wall instead of what he'd expected to see at his destination.

Yamato turned around, his eyes widening with terror as he saw Harry approaching. Harry guessed that Doc's assessment about Yamato having means to counter the anti-magic field was not necessarily true, fortunately. If that had been the case he'd have drawn his wand already. However, a look of smug satisfaction and triumph replaced the look of terror, and without and conscious thought, Harry leapt forward, hearing a crash of something heavy on the stone floor right after he'd dodged. He rolled out and turned around, coming face to face with a zombie that must have slipped through, unnoticed by the other Rangers. It had four arms, each one holding a different weapon.

Okay, so maybe the others _had _noticed it, but had been too busy to do anything about it, because this particular zombie was _huge…_nearly sixteen feet tall, and two electric-blue shining circles where its eyes should be. It was some sort of a modified troll.Harry whirled around, searching for his sword, and saw it lying at the base of the portal. But Yamato was nowhere to be seen. The necromancer must have escaped through one of the passages when Harry hadn't been looking.

Harry muttered a few curses to himself as he summoned the sword back to him. He desperately wanted to catch Yamato and put him away once and for all, but he'd have to survive in order to do it.

The troll charged him, bringing back all four of its arms. The lower left arm, which was holding a whip, went first, lashing out at Harry's legs to try to trip him up. He could see the upper left arm raise as well, intending to smash Harry with a spiked club as he evaded the whip. 

As the whip unfurled in front of him in slow motion, Harry had no intention of dodging. He stepped deep inside the troll's range and brought his sword down on the whip, severing it with ease. Then, he grabbed the fragment of the whip before it even touched the ground and swung it, wrapping it around the troll's legs before spinning out of the way.

The troll lost its balance and fell on its behind, giving Harry a short reprieve. The troll would free itself quickly, and Harry didn't think he could chop off its head without getting hit by the sword or the axe. But fighting it from a distance would be much easier, and the only way to do that would be to destroy the anti-magic field generator, which he could easily get to at the moment. 

Without giving it a second thought, he attacked it the same way he'd attacked the other one. The sword blazed brightly as it came in contact with the cube, and the shock wave produced by this one was even more intense than the one produced earlier. Harry's shield charm just barely kept him from crashing into the wall, and the troll was hurled against the opposite wall.

Harry immediately went for his wand, and it trailed the familiar red sparks as he twirled it through the air, as if the wand too were celebrating its restoration. Then he aimed it at the troll, and unleashed a Reductor Curse, blowing the troll to bits.

He hurried out of the antechamber and saw that the Rangers had also gone for their wands. The last few zombies were now falling to powerful curses, and the skirmish was over all but over. 

"Did you get Yamato?" Farouk immediately asked upon seeing Harry.

"I'm fine, thanks for asking." Harry exhaled slowly, releasing the power he'd been harnessing. "Is everyone still on one piece?"

"Fine. But did you get him?" Gudrun asked.

Harry shook his head. "I nearly had him, but a troll zombie showed up, and it required all my attention. Yamato slipped away when I wasn't looking."

"Oh, sorry about that," Matt said apologetically. "But we were a bit busy trying to stay in one piece. Think Yamato's still around?"

"He might still be around. After all, if this place had indeed been rigged to blow upon his departure, it would already have happened."

"We _did _detect Apparition wards before we came in." Gudrun said. "Those had nothing to do with the anti-magic field. Unless he had a Portkey at hand, he'll have to make his way out of here on foot. We can still catch him."

"Not a good idea." Doc shook his head. "Nathan and I came upon lots of traps. There is no telling how many there are throughout this facility. Either way, I'm not going to chase Yamato where he's got the advantage." 

"I wouldn't either…" Harry paused as he remembered something." Oh, and Yamato didn't try to use his wand before that troll interrupted me. The cube was still active, so he may not have the countermeasures we thought he did. Either that or I just scared the living daylights out of him and he couldn't move. But I can't believe a fellow who works with the foulest things imaginable would be scared so easily."

"Neither can I," Doc agreed. "Well, I guess that's good news, although we can't completely rule out the other possibility." The goblin grinned.

"Yeah, but the bad news is that this means that there is no way to counter the effect." Gudrun frowned. "Not that I don't have faith in my own, or the other Artificers' abilities, but Yamato is the most brilliant one alive."

"At least it means the wizards are as crippled as we are, if not more so," Matt pointed out.

"Apart from Yamato, his henchmen, and the wizards at the entrance, did you see any other wizards in this place?" Gudrun asked. "No, you didn't. I doubt they'd use these devices in a place where there are more wizards than undead."

"Bloody hell. In that case it's a real pity we couldn't capture one of those things intact," Nathan said. "I mean, we're trained to fight, but most of the bad guys are as helpless as other wizards without their wands."

"Maybe it'll help if we take the pieces back for analysis," Gudrun suggested.

"All right," Doc said, and he activated his broadcaster. "Lieutenant Gaal…Doc here."

"Go ahead Docmor," Gaal's voice came back.

"I'll tell you the whole story later, but it boils down to this. Yamato has invented an anti-magic field generator, which is why we lost contact with you earlier."

"So, Tetsuo finally did it." Gaal's voice sounded grim. "I don't suppose you managed to capture it, did you?"

"Sorry, Lieutenant. We thought it would be too risky—"

"Given Tetsuo's love for booby traps," Gaal finished. "Don't worry about it. It was a wise precaution."

"Thank you, sir. We were wondering wether it would be okay to bring the pieces of the device along for analysis."

"I suppose it's better than nothing," Gaal answered. "Sure, slap Portkeys onto the pieces. How much room will it take up?"

"Hold on, sir…" —Doc looked at Harry— "How big is that thing?"

Harry activated his own broadcaster. "It's a cube of roughly five by five by five feet, Lieutenant. It broke up in two pieces. The largest piece makes up about two-thirds of the cube."

"Not an even split this time, eh, Harry?" Doc grinned.

"There were two of them?" Gaal's voice asked anxiously.

"Uh, yes sir. Sorry, I forgot to mention that," Doc said. "There were two of them."

"Then we'll take them both. If they're both exactly the same, it might give me better insight into—" Gaal paused. "Hold on…" he added, and his voice went quiet for a minute or so, before it returned. "Ah, Delmar, Lota and Ivanova have just come aboard with three prisoners."

Doc winced. "Yamato was here too, sir, but he got away."

"You're joking! What was he doing in a place with so little protection?"

"They were getting ready to abandon this place, sir," Harry said "But the place was still pretty dangerous. We were very lucky." 

"Can't we talk about this later?" Nathan complained "Come on, let's get those broken cubes out, leave this place and blow it up behind us. I want to get back to Helga as soon as possible—"

The sound of a release mechanism on the crossbow announced yet another enemy surprise. Nathan, the only Ranger who was no longer protected by armour, groaned and tried to reach a dart that was sticking halfway up his back.

Harry had his wand drawn in an instant and aimed it at where he thought the dart had come from. Then, another dart was launched from a completely different corner and struck Nathan in the neck. Harry whipped his wand around and aimed blindly at the darkened aperture from which the arrow had appeared. "_Lumos Solarum._"

Brilliant light burst out of the tip of his wand and illuminated the aperture, briefly revealing one of the Bloodhounds that had got away. It shielded itself with a heavy cloak to limit the damage that was being done by Harry's spell and darted away from the light.

"Nathan…Nathan!" Matt howled, dropping to his knees beside his stricken brother.

"Harry, Farouk…keep an eye on the holes in the wall. Gudrun…those darts were poisoned. I left our bottle with the tears in your pouch. Quickly."

From the corner of his eye, Harry saw Gudrun drop the entire contents of her pouch onto the stone floor to avoid digging and searching, and found the bottle quickly. She rushed towards Nathan while she unscrewed the top of the bottle, jumping over the dismembered bodies of zombies to get to him as fast as possible.

Satisfied, Harry turned his attention fully to watching out for other sneak attacks. But a shriek from Gudrun seconds later whisked his attention away from his task. One of the zombies, with curse marks all over its body, had clamped its claw around Gudrun's leg, and she had lost her balance and fallen down.

Reacting quickly, Harry shot a Reductor Curse at it, severing the arm holding Gudrun. She crawled away, completely unconcerned with the zombie that had made her trip. Instead, she looked at the bottle, lying a few feet away from her. The last of its contents had been spilled on the floor.

For a few terrible seconds, everybody stared at the bottle that would've saved Nathan's life easily. 

Doc was the quickest to regain his wits. He grabbed Nathan's arm and activated his Portkey. "Lieutenant, Nathan's been hit by a poisonous dart. Have Esposito ready with phoenix tears," he said, as Nathan disappeared.

"I dropped the bottle," Gudrun whimpered. Then she touched her Portkey and disappeared.

"I'm going too," Matt said, and disappeared before Doc could say anything.

"Harry, Farouk, as much as I'd like to see if Nathan's all right, we've got a job to do. If we don't get those cubes, most of this will have been for nothing. We've got to hurry."

Harry just nodded dumbly, unable to say anything. For the next thirty minutes, he struggled to keep thoughts of Nathan at bay. He needed to be watchful, so no one else would get hurt. Then, after Doc had finally transported all the pieces of the generators to the Cruiser, they left for the Cruiser.

They appeared next to the broken generators, and found Evgenia Ivanova and Serafina Esposito waiting for them, their expressions gloomy.

Harry took a deep breath, swallowing away the constriction that was forming in his throat. Why were they here? Why weren't they helping Nathan? Nathan _had_ to be okay. They must have had some phoenix tears in the infirmary. "Nathan?"

Serafina cleared her throat. "Manticore poison. We…there was nothing I could do. I…I sent all the tears along with you for the mission. I didn't have any left. Manticore poison is just too fast acting. We tried anti-venom serums while we slowed down his blood flow. It didn't help. I couldn't save him…" she sobbed, tears pouring out from under her eyelids.

Harry leaned against the hull as he struggled to keep the truth of the matter at bay. But it was no use. It glared at him, burning away his heart. Esposito had done all she could. It wasn't her fault. It was _his._ He'd recognised the vampire that had shot the darts at Nathan. It was the vampire he had allowed to get away, and it had returned to kill Nathan. He had failed them. They'd entrusted him with leadership over the Combat Rangers. It had been his job to keep them safe. But he'd failed them. 

His legs refusing to support his weight any longer, Harry slid down along the sloping hull. This wasn't supposed to happen. Nathan was going to help him write love letters to Ginny. Nathan was going to marry Helga and live happily after.

Helga! He had failed her too. How was he going to tell her? How would he admit to her that he'd failed to protect Nathan, and ruined their prospects of happiness? And he'd failed Wolfe as well. Wolfe, who had changed time in order to save his life, who had paid the ultimate price for his actions, but who had deemed it well worth it, because he'd believed in Harry. That faith had been unfounded. 

Harry drew the katana out of its sheath and gripped it tightly. The warmth that it had given him previously was gone. No doubt the spirit of the blade had seen the truth as well, and refused to serve him any longer. He choked back a sob. Wolfe would've done better by letting him die and living on himself. Wolfe would have kept everybody safe. But now he was dead, and it was all for nothing. His child would grow up without a father for nothing. Galatea would have to live without him for nothing, and it was all Harry's fault. He had utterly and completely failed.

Cold dread gripped his heart as the next thought crept into his mind. What would Ginny think? Would she still love him, even though he'd proven himself unworthy of her? Wolfe had said that he and Ginny would do great things together, but he'd messed things up before they ever got the chance.

"Harry?" Doc's long-fingered hand was prodding him. "Come on, Matt needs our support."

Harry looked at Doc in bewilderment. What could he possibly say to make that would make things better? It was _his _fault that Matt no longer had a brother.

The half-goblin narrowed his eyes, as if he could read Harry's mind. "These things happen. It's one of the downsides of being a Ranger. This isn't your fault."

Harry shrugged and got up. If believing that would make Doc feel better, who was he to point out Doc's error? "There's nothing I can say that'll make him feel better."

"You don't have to say anything," Farouk said. "We just have to pay our respects first, because we were with him on his final mission."

Harry nodded, and he, Doc and Farouk left the mediwitches behind in the cargo deck. His resolve crumbled as Matt's anguished sobs met his ears. Gudrun was sitting at the magical monitoring station, but she wasn't working. She had taken off her armour and was looking into the infirmary with tearful eyes, unsure whether she should go in and talk to Matt.

Delmar was piloting the Cruiser, and Gaal sat at the other piloting station, grimly punching several buttons as he talked to someone on the screen in front of him.

Doc took the initiative and walked over to the infirmary, and Gudrun seemed to take courage from this as she too got up from her station and quickly joined him. Safety in numbers, Harry thought gloomily. He looked at Farouk, who nodded, and together they followed Gudrun and Doc in.

Matt was squeezing and rubbing Nathan's hand. "Why did you have to go? Who's going to keep m-me out of trouble now? You've always looked after me. Mum and Dad always had such high ho-hopes for you. Why couldn't you just f-follow your own path? You could've done anything. You didn't want to become an Auror, like me. You just did it to look after me. You didn't have to become a Ranger. Why didn't you just play Quidditch, and become a Beater for Australia, like you could have? If you'd done that, I could've told anyone that Nathan Kelly, the best Beater in the world, is my brother." He stopped as he failed to suppress a series of sobs.

Gudrun chose the moment to step up to him and laid her hand on Matt's. "Matt?"

Matt just looked at her hand as if it were some strange thing he'd never seen before. His gaze followed her arm and came to rest on her sad face. He stared at her for a few heartbeats, before his blank expression turned into one of pure rage. He whisked his hand away from hers. "Don't touch me. Don't ever touch me again. Your hands are cursed!" he screamed, as he grabbed her by the shoulders and slammed her into the wall. "Why couldn't you just hold onto the bottle, you _clumsy_ - _stupid_ -_ cow_!" he said, slamming her into the wall as he said each word.

"Sorry…I'm so s-sorry!" Gudrun cried. "I wasn't looking at the zombies…I thought they were finished. I let my own sister die because I was careless, and now I'm responsible for your brother too," she howled, "I'm sorry…"

Farouk stepped forward and grabbed Matt's arms around the biceps, attempting to pull him away from the terrified Gudrun, but the Matt wouldn't budge.

Harry was about to intercede on Gudrun's behalf too. After all, it wasn't her fault. If _he _had done his job properly, Gudrun would never have had to touch the bottle with phoenix tears. He was the one who should be slammed against the wall. But thankfully, the madness in Matt's eyes vanished before he had to say anything.

"The zombie…" Matt locked his eyes to Gudrun's, his grip on her shoulders loosening. "It…it isn't your fault. I'm sorry…I'm sorry, Gudrun. It isn't your fault. I shouldn't have said those things to you. Nathan would've been very angry with me for doing that. He…he'd have…Forgive me!"

Gudrun just threw her arms around his neck and hugged him tightly, and Matt soon returned the hug just as fiercely, lifting Gudrun up and keeping her feet dangling a foot off the floor. He held her aloft easily and she didn't seem to have trouble drawing breaths despite his desperate grip, so she kept on hugging him, stroking his hair every so often while his face remained buried in the crook of her neck.

Matt calmed down noticeably, and he took one last deep breath, before he gently lowered Gudrun to the floor. His cat-like yellow eyes got a glazed, faraway look in them as he held his gaze on Gudrun. "Njalsdottir? I…I…when did…?" he couldn't finish whatever he was about to say, because his face contorted in agony and he screamed. He slumped against the wall, clutching his head between his hands, as his body was briefly wracked with seizures before he lost consciousness and collapsed onto the floor.

Harry's entire being went numb, and his brain drowned out all sound. Not Matt as well. Had one of the traps hit him after all? Was this some kind of vicious delayed effect?

He felt two hands grab his face. They belonged to Farouk, who was trying to tell him something, giving him gently pats as if to emphasize his words. "….otter! Stay focussed."

"I'm here," Harry mumbled, and Farouk let go of his face. To his surprise he was no longer in the infirmary. How much time had gone by?

"Hey, you just went away. Your eyes were open, but there nobody was home. What happened? We were just about to try to enervate you," Doc said.

"What happened to Matt? He isn't…Was he hurt by one of the traps?"

"No. He's fine, physically. He's asleep in the cargo bay. Serafina and Evgenia said it was caused by stress, and it wouldn't be good for him to wake up with Nathan's body so near." Doc sighed.

Harry nodded. While it made more sense to move Nathan's body to the cargo bay now that he was dead, like Muggles sent their dead to the morgue as soon as possible, it would be extremely disrespectful to Matt. The notion that his brother was little more than cargo would do him unnecessary harm. 

"Bloody hell," Doc continued, "Nathan's dead, and three Rangers are out of commission for who knows how long, because of it. I don't think Matt will return to duty anytime soon. Neither will Helga, and Gudrun's pretty torn up about it. She thinks it's her fault."

Harry bit back the reply he'd been about to give. Doc and Farouk would only try to convince him that it wasn't his fault. "I'll be in the cargo bay," he said, as he got up and walked towards the levitation circle.

Down in the cargo bay, he saw Matt lying on a stretcher, covered by a blanket. Gudrun sat beside him, gently stroking his pale cheeks. Harry could see her frown as her index finger traced the line of his jaw. Had she been aware of his presence, Harry was sure she wouldn't have done what she did next.

She bent over Matt, placing a kiss, first on his left cheek, then his right, and finally his forehead. Her face lingered above his for a while, before she lowered her face to his again, kissing him lightly on the lips.

Involuntarily, Harry cleared his throat, causing Gudrun to jerk away from him. He cursed himself for interrupting them, and intruding on Gudrun's privacy like that. "Err, how is he?"

"How much did you see?" Gudrun asked, wringing a corner of Matt's blanket nervously.

Harry shook his head. "I won't judge what you just did. I know how seeing a hurt man causes women to behave sometimes." He bit his lip as he remembered his own experiences. Ironically, it had been his messed up state that had always attracted women to him…Ginny, then Heidi and Carey.

He shook his head. Ginny was different. That was genuine love, as undeserving as he was of it. 

"I…I don't know why I did it. I know all about the so-called female urges, but I don't have any maternal instincts, Harry. My whole life I've run away from responsibility."

"That's not true. You've taken Ginny under your wing."

Gudrun shook her head. "That's not the same. Ginny's a grown woman. She has her insecurities, but she can take care of herself…and others," she added, looking intently at Harry, who felt himself blush under her stare. "Harry, apart from the senior officers, you're the first one I'm going to tell this. There is something about me that no one knows, save my mother, the commanders, and Captain Yee. Lilia and Ginny don't know either."

"You don't have to tell me anything you don't feel comfortable telling me," Harry said quickly, but it was more for his own benefit than Gudrun's. For some reason, he didn't want Gudrun opening up to him like this. He didn't want to know her deepest, darkest secrets. It would only hurt more if she died an untimely death.

"Harry, I've got an eight-year-old daughter."

He blinked and opened and closed his mouth as he though of, and rejected several things that crossed his mind. Finally he settled on a reply. "You're a m-mother?"

"I don't deserve the honour to be called that," Gudrun said sadly. "God, I have no idea why the Order of Illumination accepted me in the first place. I've proven that I have no sense of responsibility. I just dumped my baby at my mother's. I didn't even stick around for her first birthday. I haven't seen her at all in the war…I'm a stranger to my own daughter, Harry."

"But your mum, is she good with kids?" Harry asked, swallowing to make his voice less raspy. "Does she treat your daughter all right?"

"She raised _me_ by herself. My dad is an oceanographer, and a drifter at heart. I didn't see much of him. He recognised me, and sent money and all that, but I know him about as well as my daughter knows me." Gudrun chuckled harshly to herself. "I guess that's where I get that character trait."

"That's not true," Harry said, although he had no idea how to defend that statement if she asked him to. Fortunately, she didn't.

"But it seems fate has got something else planned for me. My mother has leukaemia, and she's not going to live long. She certainly can't take care of Maria anymore. My daughter first showed signs of magic when she was four, so I know she's a witch. The Ministry will send her to Concordia next week."

"Didn't the father want her?" Harry asked.

Gudrun smiled sadly. "I never told him. I met him while some friends and I vacationed on Oahu, in the summer of '92. He took me to the Banzai Pipeline and tried to teach me how to surf… emphasis on _tried_. I liked Sunset Beach better, because the water was calmer there. It was easier to do other stuff. He also took me sailing, and he knew the places where the food was good, but not too pricey." She heaved a sigh. "He made me feel like the most beautiful woman on Earth, Harry. He was so sweet…"

Harry nodded, and when she didn't continue, Harry decided to risk a question. "So, err, why didn't you tell him? I mean, I assume he was a Muggle, right? You didn't tell him because he was a Muggle?"

Gudrun shook her head. "He was a few years shy of his driver's license. He _said_ he was eighteen, but I _know_ he was sixteen, _at most_. I bet those condoms had been in his wallet since he was twelve, or something, when he bought them to show 'em off to his friends. Oh, I should have known better. I'm so stupid!"

"Um, did you consider, well, you know…" Harry hesitated, not knowing how to put it. 

Gudrun caught on, and shook her head vehemently. "No! I never considered taking it away. I had a decent job at the Canadian Ministry, with Magical Transportation. And I can't be sure if his condoms had indeed been past the expiration date. I guess the fact that she was born in spite of the precautions, convinced me that she was _meant_ to be born. Either way, I wouldn't have killed my own baby."

"But, weren't you using Contraceptive Charms or Potions?"

"I was using the charm, but you've got to reinforce that every week. I was having so much fun, I lost track of the days, really, and I wasn't really planning to let the kid into my panties anyway." she chuckled ruefully, "I was immediately punished for my lack of discipline. I'd had a little too much mixed drink when the moment arose, so my judgement wasn't what it should have been. That's why I forgot to check the raincoats for leaks…Well, it doesn't matter anymore."

Anyway, I could hardly show up on her father's doorstep, saying, 'I gave birth to your daughter, oh, and I'm a witch and she'll probably be one too, isn't that lovely?' Then there's the fact that my daughter's living proof of the fact that I broke the law. He was just a kid…I couldn't do that to him."

Harry nodded. He could imagine how Gudrun felt, and this had given him a lot to think about. "Well, I'm glad you told me. I'd have been shocked if you'd just stepped up and introduced me to your daughter right out of the blue."

Gudrun exhaled with relief. "Thanks for listening, Harry."

"No problem." Harry said, and they sat together, watching over Matt in silence, until they reached the Citadel.

*

Ron looked on nervously as the Cruiser touched down in the Maintenance bay. Ginny had already been there, going about her regular business while Captain Yee supervised her, and the other apprentice, Rachel Esklove. But they, like everyone else, looked sad. Another Ranger had fallen.

He'd promised Hermione to let her know as soon as possible how Harry was handling things. He was worried, because he knew his best friend all too well. Harry would find some way to shift all the blame onto himself. Glancing at Ginny and seeing her worried expression, he knew that she was also expecting it.

He eyed the girl standing next to him…Danielle, Rachel's sister. She'd trained with Nathan a lot, and his death had come as a bit of a shock to her. No wonder, since the powerful Australian had seemed invincible at times. Like his brother Matt, he had shown great promise. 

Helga wasn't there, though. Her reaction to the news had hardly been surprising. She'd been crushed, and she had gone to her family's home for comfort. She'd return a bit later to see Nathan's body, when she was ready to.

The humming sound announced the arrival of the Cruiser, and soon it dropped its invisibility charm and landed in a designated area. Ginny had stopped her activities and was now right beside him, ready to give Harry all the support he needed. Aberforth Dumbledore wasn't too far away either. He too was watching the Cruiser intently.

After the power-down, the loading ramp came down. Gaal came out first. The body was lying on a levitating surface and Matt walked beside the head. Gudrun was right beside him, holding his hand tightly, and Ivanova and Esposito walked on either side of the surface, at the feet. Then followed Doc and the other Intel Ranger, Delmar. Finally, Farouk, Lota and Harry came out of the cruiser.

The downcast look on Harry's face said it all. The light that often shone in his friend's green eyes was missing. But Ron knew that _missing_ didn't mean _gone_.

Harry came to a halt. He looked at Ron warily. "I can't do this, Ron. Every time someone dies, it's like part of me dies with them."

"I know. It's all wrong. By rights we shouldn't even be here. But we are. It's like in the great stories Mum used to tell when I was a kid, Harry. The ones that really mattered. They were full of darkness and danger. And sometimes I didn't want to know the end. Because how could the end be happy? How could the world go back to the way it was when so much bad had happened?" 

    Ron smiled gently. It was the story of their lives. "But in the end, it's only a passing thing, this shadow. Even darkness must pass. And that tomorrow is a new day, one that can bring happiness instead of sorrow. Those were the stories that stayed with you. That meant something. Even if you were too small to understand why. But I think, Harry, I do understand. I know now. People in those stories had lots of chances of turning back only they didn't. Because they were holding on to something."
    Harry looked at him, uncertainty radiating out of his eyes. "What are we holding on to, Ron?"
    "That there's some good in this world, Harry. And it's worth fighting for."
"No matter what the cost," Aberforth, who'd come closer, added gravely.

Harry looked at Ron oddly.

"What?" Ron asked.

"You know, I don't think I've ever heard you say anything so… wise… before." A glint suddenly flashed in Harry's eyes. "Did you get all that out of a book?"

Ron scratched his head. "I don't think so. Hermione says I've been saying profound things ever since I tried some of that Longbottom Leaf pipe-weed, but with all of the books she's got crammed into the house, who can tell anymore? You'd think that now we're out of school and all, she'd ease off on that, but noooo…"

A small smile, not one of sadness, but one of relief, came over Harry's face. "Thanks for reminding me…Thanks for reminding me why you're my best friend."

Ron stepped forward and engulfed him in a hug, and he felt Ginny join in too. Harry would be okay, as long as he had his family with him.

    ***
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nycgal: I don't know if they're going to get together, at least, the road won't b e easy and fluffy.

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Gogirl: Hmmm, did he? LOL, no, I can safely say that he didn't see Max. Besides, everyone except Hermione and Galatea call him Wolfe. Nice theory though.

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Maab: Your blessing seems to be working. I'm pretty inspired. Thanks for the review. :-)

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Philip: Actually, I'm going to introduce a few new things before this story is done.

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Lord Tiger VII: I updated, although it's a day later than the agreed date. I couldn't help it. Xing saw fit to do a Gateway Timeout yesterday.

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psychochick: Well, it seems I'll have to do even better to keep you procrastinating. ;-)

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sherman: The way things are now, I estimated that Wolfe will return in chapter 15, though I won't be writing from his POV. 

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The Millennium One: If chapter 12 merited a Holy Shit, I wonder what you're going to say about this one.

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Lamina Court: You know, after reading the book I imagined the 'fair' elf Legolas to be a fancy-boy skipping around in tights. But I must say Orlando Bloom and the people who devised the action scenes completely redeemed the character in my eyes.

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Lana Riddle: I've got nothing to say but: Thanks!

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Maverick Davis: Dramatic enough for you yet? *evil cackle*

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harry/ginny4eva: Soon? Wouldn't you rather see Wolfe get tortured? ;-)

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Zaz: I told you guys Mind War was going to be darker and more intense than EaL. So, do you think I'm delivering so far?

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SiriDragon: Ah, welcome back, Siri. You're right about the ego thing. I can't really complain, can I? But I can't help it. I've got a fragile self-esteem…kidding. Thanks for the review.

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pamela-potter-24: Check out the Author's Note below for the next update.

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the.grey.lady: Evil? Moi? You ain't seen nothin' yet!

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A-Potter-Person: It isn't like I wanted to copy the eulogy. I tried looking for samples on the Internet to give me an idea how they are written, but I couldn't find any. On another note, I can't say I've seen too many 'come back to life' stories of this kind. Only ones that shatter JK's 'people can't be brought back to life by magic' rule.

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Casual Reader: In extreme circumstances there is bound to be some chemistry between Rangers.

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Nosgoroth: Not so much a surname as a translation of his elvish name, actually. How did you like the LoTR references in this chappie? You_ do _realise that it's all your fault, right? Including LoTR references seems to be contagious. :-)

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caroline: I don't think I've seen you before. In any case, welcome aboard. I'll do my best to make the story as enjoyable as possible.

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Rowan: You know, when I conceived the character Wolfe, I never thought he'd be such a big hit. I thought he'd be accused of being a Mary Sue instead.

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Author's Note: Thank you so much for the support you've shown once again, oh noble readers. The next update will happen on March 16th, my B-day…damn, I'm getting old. Anyway, that's nine days instead of ten, to make up for the extra day's wait due to the gateway timeout.


	14. Born to the Purple

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Born to the Purple

Chapter 14

Hermione heaved a sigh as Ron wrapped his arm around her while they waited for Nathan's body to be brought over from the medical wing so his family could take it away. He wouldn't be buried in the Rangers' graveyard, like Max had been. Max…she'd found out many things she hadn't known about him after his death. While she knew there was no way to know the complete backgrounds, and the deepest, darkest secrets of all the Rangers she worked with, Hermione had been shocked by how little she actually knew.

First there was Gudrun, who had recently blown them all away by revealing that she had a daughter. It hadn't even been classified information. All Hermione, Ginny or Lilia would have had to do would have been to peek in her medical files, and they would have known. But there hadn't been any reason for them to do that, and since none of them had ever been the ones to give Gudrun her physical, they never found out.

Gudrun's daughter, Maria, would arrive in Concordia in November, so the Icelandic witch had already started to look for a place for her and her daughter to live. She would have liked to move into Nathan and Helga's place, which was now up for sale, but due to its prime location, it was outside her price range. Hermione and Ron could afford their house, which was just across the street, because of their combined income.

Most of the denizens of Concordia were affiliated with one of the fellowships of service, crafts or industry, and thus the fellowships provided their housing. This meant that owning one's own home took considerable resources, and while Gudrun could probably come up with the money by herself, she had to think of her daughter's future too. So Gudrun's only option was to look for a place in the First Tier, but the neighbourhoods in the First Tier tended to be rough.

That hadn't been the biggest shock, however, for the most astounding news that week had been revealed when Matt's family arrived the day before to pick up Nathan.

After hearing, and looking into the details of the story, Hermione had been amazed. Matt had to be one of the most selfless people in the world. Why else would a filthy rich wizard, who could be considered wizarding nobility, want to join the Order of Illumination and take the insane risks that could very well cost him his life?

She'd heard about Byron Kelly, of course, but she had never linked him to the Kelly brothers. The Australian wizarding tycoon, a descendant of the wizarding Kellys from Cork, Ireland, was worth about two billion Galleons. He was the world's largest supplier of plant and animal products for the purpose of magical healing. He also owned the controversial Fire Crab Captive Breeding Compound, where the giant magical tortoises were bred and raised in captivity, only to be killed for their highly prized shells, which some wizards used as cauldrons.

Hermione knew for a fact that cauldrons made from those shells produced better and more powerful restorative potions, but the majority of shells from the creatures that were being bred there were sold to wealthy individuals with no interest in healing. So lots of these creatures were still being killed unnecessarily, just so rich wizards could admire their beautiful new cauldrons. Hermione doubted that the huge donations made by Byron Kelly to protect the Fire Crabs in the wild were even making a dent in the profits made by the sale of his 'legitimate' shells. 

Some other things Byron Kelly was known for were the breeding of Hippogriffs and winged horses, and, as Ron so keenly pointed out, the fact that he'd recently purchased the Vratsa Vultures, one of the most successful Quidditch teams in the world. He also owned an Australian Team, the Never-Never Nagah, which were the Australian league's third most successful team, behind the Thundelarra Thunderers and the Woolongong Warriors.

Matt's mother, Lynette Archidiaconus of Caer Sidi, a second-generation Australian witch of British descent, had become heir to the Caer Sidi estate and fortune after Voldemort had wiped out the original British branch of the ancient wizarding family. Even before that had happened, she and her immediate family had already been considerably wealthy themselves.

Hermione remembered catching a brief glimpse of Lynette a few years ago, while she and Ron visited the wizarding museum at Caer Sidi, located in a building adjacent to the castle proper. The place appeared in Arthurian legend, and the Muggles had linked its location to Puffin Island. Being a witch, Hermione knew that the true location was an island invisible to Muggles, but not too far from Puffin Island.

Lynette was an elegant beauty who had to be in her early fifties but, like most witches, didn't look it. Hermione had read about her when she'd been pondering whether or not to go to the Australian Advanced Alchemy Academy, where Lynette was a professor. In the picture, as well as when Hermione had seen her in person, she'd looked a bit like a Muggle hippie. But now she was clad in a pure white dress with hanging sleeves, the misty expression in the picture replaced by one of heartbreak. Her dead son had shared her eye colour, Hermione noticed, as the lady wiped away a tear with her handkerchief, leaning heavily on her husband for support. Her eyes were violet, nearly purple. Those strange eyes were typical of ancient pureblood families, Hermione knew. She remembered the slightly spooky eyes of Mr Ollivander, and Madam Hooch's raptor-like eyes, which looked a bit like Byron Kelly's. Only the Australian's eyes had more of a feline quality to them.

Byron was a colossal man, as massive as Nathan had been, although in his case quite a bit of his mass consisted of fat, which his royal purple robes failed to conceal. Nathan's rugged features and hair colour had clearly come from that side of the family, whereas Matt had his mother's golden hair and good looks. Unlike his wife, his primary emotion seemed to be one of rage, directed at his remaining son. They hadn't spoken, and upon his arrival, Byron had shot his son a withering look with his cat-like eyes, confirming what Matt had been so afraid of.

Hermione was just itching to give him a piece of her mind. It wasn't fair to blame Matt for Nathan's death. Nathan had always felt responsible for his younger twin, and it had been his own choice to join the Order of Illumination with Matt. Apparently he had declined at first when he'd been asked to join, but when Matt said yes, Nathan changed his mind and joined the Order to keep his wild and reckless sibling out of trouble.

Ron must have known what she was thinking, because her gave her hand a warning squeeze. She took a few deep breaths to remove the frustration she was feeling. She succeeded in calming down a little when Lynette let go of her husband's arm and approached them. Her lips quivered as they tried to form a smile. "Forgive me for not introducing myself earlier. I'm Lynette…Matt and…Nathan's mum."

"Ron Weasley," Ron said as he gently shook her hand.

"Hermione Granger," Hermione said, as she in turn introduced herself. 

"I've heard so much about you. We all owe you a lot for your efforts against You-Know-Who…I mean, V-Voldemort." She uttered the name with difficulty. "You were friends of Nathan's?"

"I wasn't as close to him as some," Hermione admitted. "Harry…that's Harry Potter, knew him better than I did. I joined the Order a year ago, so I haven't known him as long. But he made a good impression the first time I saw him." She smiled sadly as she remembered how Nathan set Ron straight, when he and Lilia came to inform her of Harry's disappearance.

"Harry Potter," Lynette said thoughtfully. "Matt and Nathan talked about Harry a lot." She smiled ruefully. "I don't imagine my sons talked about their parents a lot, did they?"

"Well, no…" Hermione blushed. "I was very surprised when I found out. Ordinarily, people with such old bloodlines like to remind people of it every chance they get," she said, unable to prevent a scowl as Malfoy crossed her mind. 

"We're not all snobs, Miss Granger." Lynette smiled briefly. "When we raised the boys, we actually specifically taught them not to draw attention to their heritage. Someone kidnapped them when they were three, just before You-Kn…Voldemort, lost his power. Thankfully the kidnapper was an opportunistic amateur who had nothing to do with Voldemort, and we found the boys quickly enough. But that still gave us quite a fright. In fact, to further confuse potential evildoers, we raised our boys to be convincing Muggles. They grew up with toy broomsticks, but they also watched Saturday morning cartoons on television."

Lynette's eyes filled up with tears again as she looked at Matt. "Nathan could put on a decent show after a few years, but Matt took to it like a fish to water…within months, he became indistinguishable from Muggle children. Matt is a really fast learner. I'm not speaking badly of Nathan, but Matt simply has more talent, when it comes to…well, anything. But he lacks the self-discipline and work ethic Nathan had. He likes to think on his feet instead. He gets that from me. Before I met Byron, I didn't really have a sense of purpose. He pushed me to develop my alchemy skills. 

"Unfortunately, Nathan's effort to make Matt work harder and achieve his full potential failed, because Matt's incredibly stubborn…he gets that from his father. I guess it makes for the wrong combination." The woman sighed. "He's so much like his father in that regard. That's why they've always clashed. It only got worse as Matt grew older. One time, we really had to take drastic measures to protect him from himself. I…I had hoped that this…Nathan's death, would have brought them closer together. But just the opposite happened."

"But _you_ don't blame Matt!" Ron said.

"The boys both knew about the risks. Nathan…he sat me down and tried to reassure me the night before they left. Matt said it was all nonsense, and that they'd survive everything evil could throw at them. I know Nathan's death made him realise his mistake. I just wish there could have been another way for him to realise it." Lynette sniffed.

"Ron cleared his throat. "Err, Mrs Kelly, can I ask you a question about Matt? I mean, I've worked with him for a while, and I noticed that he knew an awful lot about Muggles. But from his eyes I could tell that he wasn't Muggle-born. Err, I've seen lots of wizarding eyes, but none quite like that before, and—"

"You'd like to know how he gets them?" Lynette said, as she caught on.

Hermione had wanted to kick Ron in the shins for being so insensitive and asking those questions at a moment like this, but Lynette almost managed to smile indulgently at Ron's curiosity. "Well, he gets it from Byron's side of the family, as you can see…" She gestured towards her husband. "One of his ancestors married an aboriginal witch, whose grandmother had been one of the last cat people."

Hermione nodded. The cat people were mentioned in aboriginal wizarding history as well as aboriginal Muggle mythology. The wizarding world was still trying to work out how these beings had disappeared, and where they had disappeared to. "But wouldn't the Muggles notice his eyes?"

"Oh, he was born with blue eyes, but they changed when he was nearly nine. My mother-in-law told me that's how it seems to go. After he was nine, we just cast a cosmetic charm on his eyes before he mingled with Muggles. So that's how…" Lynette trailed off as her eyes narrowed, prompting Hermione to look in the direction Lynette was staring.

Gudrun had emerged from the passageway that led down into the hill on which the Citadel had been built, and she was talking to Matt. Lynette's look must have been a reaction to Gudrun's behaviour towards her son. The Icelandic witch cupped Matt's face with one hand and stroke his cheek with the other while she spoke soothingly to him.

"Who is that woman?" Lynette asked, looking Gudrun over critically. "Are she and Matt an item? A bit old for him, isn't she?"

"Nah, Gudrun's not that old…thirty, I think. And she and Matt aren't together. She just—" He stopped as Hermione squeezed his hand hard, signalling him to shut up.

Hermione wanted to kick Ron in the shins again, this time for his stupidity. But she knew that Ron was just being Ron, and completely oblivious to the fact that Lynette was displaying motherly over-protectiveness. Unlike Ron, who still had a bit of trouble in that area, Hermione had immediately picked up on the subtle shift in Matt and Gudrun's relationship after Nathan's death. She didn't know what to make of the change, though.

After some digging in the Rangers' history, she had concluded that relationships between Rangers had always been a quite common occurrence. While it was officially discouraged for practical reasons, namely the death of one Ranger sometimes indefinitely crippling the partner emotionally, the commanding officers had always known that ultimately they couldn't stand in the way. That didn't mean that all relationships between Rangers worked out. Hermione didn't count herself and Ron, and Harry and Ginny, in Serafina Esposito's unofficial gossip statistics. They had known each other and fallen in love _before_ joining the Order of Illumination, so they wouldn't be an accurate representation. But according to the gossip statistics, for every relation ship that _did_ work out, there were two to three that didn't. And this didn't include the relationships that were ended abruptly due to the untimely death of one of the partners.

The interview with the Citadel's gossip queen had also yielded lots of information Hermione had been previously unaware of. About ten years ago, Valentina Malkova from Intel Field Ops, and Pavel Kozminski, from the medical division had been an item for about a year, before a rather messy break up ensued. The New Zealander, Timothy Flyte, one of the Rangers in the small and under-appreciated Administrative Division, had dated Emily Yang, from Hong Kong for nearly two years. They had parted amicably. Captain Kovalenko had been romantically involved with a Swedish Ranger for five years. Allegedly, her dumping him had left him so distraught that he got killed in his very next mission. According to Serafina, Captain Kovalenko still felt guilty about that.

Serafina had given her another dozen examples she couldn't remember at the time, but they had been enough to give her an insight into romances between Rangers. Weathering certain negative situations together, like being brushed closely by death, often made people want to counteract it with something positive.

She was pretty sure that for a large part, what Gudrun was feeling came from the downside of an emotional surge she had experienced during their mission. Matt had saved her life, and now Gudrun had feelings for him.

Hermione had discussed this with Galatea before. Such an experience wasn't enough to base a relationship on. It had worked out between Max and Galatea, because Galatea had been a much-needed source of stability and love for Max, while she was content to let him take charge and simply worship the ground he walked on. For his part, Max had worshipped Galatea in his own quiet way.

It was no secret that Matt had shown interest in Gudrun ever since he joined the Order, annoying and amusing her with his playful attempts at seduction. And while Gudrun had always flirted right back, she'd never actually shown _this_ much interest in Matt before. Gudrun had a crush…and Lynette must have seen it right away.

Lynette looked her Hermione questioningly. "Matt is interested in her too, isn't he?"

Hermione tried not to squirm under her discerning stare. "Uh, well, he certainly seemed to have some interest, but I wouldn't know for sure, Mrs Kelly. I don't think I'm the one you ought to ask."

The older woman bowed her head apologetically. "No, you're not. I'm sorry. I know that must have made you very uncomfortable. Either way, I can't say I'm surprised. She's just the type. She bears a several of similarities to lots of his ex-girlfriends."

"I don't blame you for asking, Mrs Kelly." Ron said, "My mum does it all the time…obsessive about it, she is. But I reckon I'll want to know who my children are going out with, when I'm a dad." 

Hermione stiffened under his arm. Would she ever be a mother? She and Ron had been trying ever since she'd told him about her problems. She'd immediately reversed the charm that day. But any healthy woman would already be pregnant, given the fact that a Weasley was trying to father the child. "Sorry, you'll have to excuse me."

She wiped a stray tear from his face and rushed out of the Entrance Hall.

*

Ginny wished Harry wouldn't shut her out like that. He'd barely said a word to her since he'd come back from that dreadful mission. However, no words were needed for her to know how he felt. Even though he hadn't replied to her, she thought she'd made a compelling argument that proved it wasn't his fault that Nathan was dead. But he could be such a dense and stubborn prat sometimes…

She knew it was very selfish of her to see things this way, but the timing of Nathan's death had been terrible. In the days after Wolfe's death, she and Harry had grown closer than ever. She'd been ready to give herself to him, to make love to him. She'd been working out the details when she heard about Nathan's death. Harry had completely withdrawn into himself after that. Destiny had seen fit to undo all that she and Harry had achieved. Why couldn't Harry just get some more time to recover from these emotional blows?

Up ahead, Captain Faust was talking to Mr Kelly, while Matt remained far away from them, looking hopelessly lost. Gudrun held his right hand in both of hers, gently caressing it as she talked to him incessantly. She'd been with him almost twenty-four hours a day since he'd returned. Ginny had tried to pry the reason for her behaviour from Harry by asking him what had happened, but in the end she'd had to hear it from Doc, which irritated her infinitely. 

If anyone had asked her a few months ago whether there was anything, anything at all, that she hated about Harry Potter, her answer would have been no. But it looked like this was part of him that she could definitely do without. She felt awful every time he went to pieces like this, because it hurt her to see him in pain. But he was making himself suffer needlessly, and he wouldn't listen to her! That was what bothered her the most. 

Harry had told her about Gudrun's confession, however, so she'd been prepared when Gudrun made the announcement that she had a child. That too seemed to be consuming his thoughts lately. Maybe he was disappointed with Gudrun for not taking care of her daughter. Ginny didn't know enough about Gudrun's reasons to leave her child in her mother's care. 

She hadn't been able to ask Gudrun about it, since she'd spent all her time with Matt, whereas Ginny had been preoccupied with Harry. And Harry himself had been very vague about Gudrun's reasons for abandoning her daughter. He'd muttered something about 'sense of responsibility,' but hadn't talked about it any more than that. Maybe the fact that Harry had never known his parents was part of it. Maybe he disapproved of Gudrun's decision because it meant that she _chose _not to get to know her daughter.

She scanned the Entrance Hall once more, looking for Ron and Hermione, who were supposed to be there. She just caught sight of Hermione hurrying away. She looked upset, and Ron went after her in a hurry. Ginny shook her head. What had that prat done wrong now?

"Weasley?" Captain Faust asked, noticing her approach.

"Sir…Helga and Lieutenant Montoya…" How should she say this? Were they bringing Nathan? Were they escorting the remains? How could she put this delicately, in the presence of Mr and Mrs Kelly? "The escorts are on their way."

"Thank you, Ranger Weasley." Captain Faust nodded. "That will be all."

Ginny didn't step away, however. She looked at Mr Kelly, but his gaze was so intimidating that she settled on Mrs Kelly instead. She was as tall as Galatea and every bit as fair, though her beauty wasn't of the Veela kind. Golden waves cascaded down her back, and a thin silver wreath with a sparkling emerald in the middle rested on her brow. She looked very queenly indeed, making Ginny suddenly feel like a _commoner_. "Mr and Mrs Kelly, I didn't know Nathan really well. I knew him well enough to know that he was a really good person, and I have a great sense of loss too. Everyone who knew him, even a little, feel it. But I can't imagine how this feels to you. No parent should outlive their child." She took a deep breath before continuing, "I just want you to know that you have my profound sympathy."

Mrs Kelly smiled benignly, her eyes meeting Ginny's, who could have sworn that she had seen starlight reflected in the nearly purple eyes. But they were indoors… it was impossible. "Thank you. And what is your name, dear?"

Ginny blushed and lowered her gaze. "Ginny Weasley."

"You're Ron's sister, aren't you? I just spoke to him, and his fiancée." Mrs Kelly stepped forward and placed her hand on Ginny's shoulder, which drew Ginny's attention to a ring that just had to contain some magic. It glittered like polished gold overlaid with silver light, and the white stone in it twinkled as if Sirius, the brightest star in the sky, had come down to rest upon her hand. "Thank you for your kind words, Ginny Weasley. I'm glad that Nathan made a good impression on his fellow Rangers."

Loud sniffles heralded Helga's arrival, as she and Lieutenant Montoya, and to Ginny's surprise, Harry, escorted the floating casket into the great hall. The Rangers who had been passing through the hall, all stopped and saluted, holding the gesture for ten seconds or so, before going on their way again. Others, like Docmor and Rashid Farouk, lingered near the portal through which Nathan, Helga and his family would be leaving.

"I have informed Chief Garibaldi of your situation, and you'll be able to transit to your destinations immediately," Captain Faust said, and with a slight bow, he left for the archway that led to the upper floor of the Citadel.

Then, Harry cleared his throat and stepped forward. "Mr and Mrs Kelly. I considered Nathan my friend. If there is anything I can do—"

"We will manage," Mrs Kelly interrupted him. "You've done quite enough for all of us, Harry Potter. It isn't your place to shoulder the responsibility for all the evil in this world." Harry was visibly taken aback by her words, but she continued unperturbed. "Nathan wrote to me how you always feel responsible. Please, let it go, so my son can rest in peace."

Harry looked at the floor. "Yes, Mrs Kelly."

Mrs Kelly smiled sadly. She hadn't believed Harry's answer, but, to Ginny's regret, she didn't press the issue. She just took Helga's hand and stepped through the portal with her. Lieutenant Montoya, who'd go as far as the portal terminal, followed with Nathan's casket. Farouk and Doc saluted as the casket drifted past them, and went on their way as well.

Mr Kelly looked at Matt. "I won't beat around the bush, Matt. We both know why Nathan is dead. I'll suffer your presence if you insist on coming, but know that from now on you are dead to me!" 

"Mr Kelly!" Gudrun gasped in outrage. "It isn't his fault!"

The man eyed Gudrun disdainfully and smirked at Matt. "Hmmm, another of your Muggle-born diversions, I see." Then he looked at Gudrun with fake sympathy. "Don't take anything he tells you too seriously. You're just the type he goes for. A lot of his ex-girls looked just like you. You're too good to be another notch on his headboard."

"Insult me all you like, but leave her out of it!" Matt hissed, his eyes suddenly ablaze. "I ought to knock out your teeth for that, Father, but Nathan would disapprove."

Mr Kelly narrowed his eyes. "Don't call me Father! I'd have disowned you a long time ago, but your mother won't allow it. Remember…_dead_!"

"He's your son!" Ginny exploded, unable to control herself any longer. She just ached to hex this man into next week. How could a nice lady like Mrs Kelly have married a heartless git like him?

"I have no son!" Mr Kelly spat, and strode into the portal.

Ginny turned to Harry, whose green eyes were wide with shock. "Why didn't you say anything?"

"He seemed really set on blaming Matt. He wouldn't have believed that it's really my fault."

That was it. Ginny couldn't help herself. She was seeing red, and the redness would only dissipate if she vented it somehow, preferably the most satisfying way possible. She felt like literally slapping some sense into him, and her entire body trembled as she desperately fought to control her urges. She clenched her fists…but realising it was a bad idea since she was struggling _not _to lash out, she unclenched them, using every bit of her willpower to accomplish that seemingly insurmountable feat.

"You idiot! Everybody tells you it isn't your fault! Even Mrs Kelly, Nathan's _mum_, said it wasn't your fault! She _told _you to let it go! Are you so stupid that you think everything is your doing? Didn't it ever cross your mind that if so many people tell you the same thing there might actually be some truth to it? Are you so arrogant that you think you're the master of life and death? Because _that_, Harry Potter, is what you seem to be implying! Ooh, why am I even bothering? Wait…I remember. I _bother_ because I _love you_! Arrgh, why won't you let me help you? You weren't supposed to shut me out again, _remember_?"

Harry looked at her incredulously. Then he shook his head. "You don't understand." 

"Then why won't you help me understand?" Ginny screamed. "You can't keep this bottled up inside you!"

"Fine. We'll _talk_. I'll be in my quarters," Harry said, as he turned on his heel.

"Err… you sure have a unique way of handling things," Gudrun said, after Harry had gone. "Are you sure you got through to him, though?"

"He's agreed to…_talk_." Ginny paused as she pondered the way Harry had said that word. It seemed like he didn't expect it to yield any results. She then turned to Matt. "Matt, aren't you going to mourn with your family?"

"Yes, you have a right to mourn Nathan too!" Gudrun added vehemently.

Matt shook his head. "I think I'll follow Nathan's example and avoid conflict. I don't want my mum and Helga to suffer while I can mourn elsewhere."

Gudrun grabbed his arm. "Matt, you shouldn't walk away from this!"

"Mind your own business!" Matt snapped as he tried to wrench his arm out of her grasp, but Gudrun held on for dear life and was dragged along with the motion.

"Matt, look at me!" Gudrun gripped Matt's face and forced him to face her. When she was sure that he wouldn't look away, she let him go. "Until I'm sure that you'll be all right, you're stuck with me!"

"Stuck…with…y-you? Njalsdottir…I—" Matt's eyes glazed over and he briefly swayed on his feet as he looked at Gudrun with a glazed expression.

"Oh, not again!" Gudrun said worriedly. "Matt, stay with me!"

Ginny rushed over to support Matt, who seemed to be recovering. "What's wrong with him?"

"I'm just tired," Matt said. "I need to go lie down."

"I'm coming with you!" Gudrun insisted.

"My quarters aren't that far. I'm sure I'll make it!"

"Can it, or I'll have Captain Faust put you under medical observation."

"All right, just shut up about it!" Matt surrendered.

Ginny smiled. With Gudrun pestering him to get better, Matt would be just fine. It was going to take a long time for him to accept the situation, of course. Angelina had once told Ginny that George still suffered from Fred's death. But Angelina had been there for George, and George had been there for Angelina. It had taken Ginny a while to accept Fred's and her father's deaths as well, and during the grieving process there had been times when she'd thought that things would _never_ be all right! And whenever people had tried to tell her otherwise…

As that thought crossed her mind, Ginny realised that she'd been completely unfair to Harry. He wouldn't just stop feeling guilty just because she told him to, just as she'd often put on a happy face to get all those people who had tried to tell her the same thing to leave her alone. She had made him promise not to shut her out anymore, but back then she'd naïvely assumed that no one else was going to die.

She'd had a happy childhood, mostly thanks to the Potter family's sacrifice. And while she'd led a happy life, dreaming of the boy-who-lived, Harry had constantly been told he was an unnatural freak and made to live in a cupboard. He would likely struggle with this for the rest of his life, which meant that it would take him even longer than anyone else to get over something like a comrade's death.

To make matters worse, Voldemort had often made Harry feel as if the entire war with all the death and misery revolved around _him_. She suppressed a shudder as she remembered how Voldemort had tortured and executed a bunch of innocent Muggles and wizards, letting some of them survive to proclaim that it all could have been avoided if Harry Potter hadn't decided to stand in his way. On top of that, Harry had been made into _the _symbol for the forces of good. No wonder he believed he had to carry the whole world on his shoulders.

She'd had no right to vent her frustrations on him because his problems hampered her plans for their future together. If anything, losing control of her temper had only made things worse. She had implied that her frustrations were _his_ fault too.

Ginny hurried out of the Entrance Hall and made her way towards Harry's room. She owed Harry a big apology, and she could only hope that he'd accept it.

*

Ginny knocked three times. Twice seemed too little, but four times would have seemed excessive and pushy. The last thing she wanted to do was drive Harry further away. She heard shuffling on the other side, and the door opened, revealing Aberforth Dumbledore. "Aberforth? What are you doing here?"

"I came here for the same reason you came here, I imagine…moral support. Although I wasn't planning on hugging and kissing him," the old wizard joked.

Ginny blushed. "Right."

"Harry's not here. He just came by to pick up his invisibility cloak. He said you might be coming over, but I think he wanted to be alone. Would you like to come in?"

Ginny nodded and entered Harry's room. Aberforth had barely closed the door behind her when she could no longer contain herself. "Oh, Aberforth. I've done something terrible. I—"

"Told Harry off for feeling guilty?" Aberforth finished.

"He told you?" Ginny asked, feeling more miserable by the second.

"He didn't have to. I could see the frustration build up inside you these last few days. I knew it was just a matter of time before you'd blow up!"

Ginny looked at him, first in disbelief, then with mounting anger. "So why didn't—"

"I stop you?"

"Stop doing that!"

Aberforth chuckled. "Answer me this, and be honest. Would you have listened to me if I'd told you to let Harry sort this out at his own pace?"

Ginny blushed with embarrassment. "I guess not."

"But you've worked it out now, haven't you?"

Ginny nodded.

"Good! You're a wiser person because of it. Besides, you're angry because you care. That's not a bad thing."

Ginny sat on Harry's bed. "Aberforth…I love Harry. I worry about him. He always blames himself for everything. And I can't honestly say that I trust him to work this out on his own."

"Neither can I, to tell you the truth. But I know there is nothing I can do to make him see the error in his thinking."

"So he might sink deeper into depression?" Ginny asked worriedly.

Aberforth lit his pipe and puffed a few times before he shrugged. "Possibly."

Ginny took a few deep breaths, determined not to let her temper get her in trouble again. How could Aberforth be so indifferent? "And we sit by and do nothing?"

"If you can help others, do it. But if you can't, restrain yourself and at least don't harm anyone. The Dalai Lama said that, and Hippocrates said the same thing. To do nothing is sometimes a good remedy.

"I know you've suffered directly at the hands of Voldemort as well, and you may think this gives you a better insight into Harry's feelings than most. I think you do, but no attempts to convince him will help him throw off this depression. That's something Harry has to do himself. When the itch is inside the boot, scratching outside provides little consolation."

"So I just have to stand by and watch him waste away?"

"I hope it won't quite come to that, but yes, you'll have to stand aside. Harry loves you, and you brighten up his life, but sometimes it has to get really dark to be able to see the stars. No…I'm not saying Harry's continued depression is _your_ fault," Aberforth said, just as Ginny had been about to protest. "Just that he may need some time alone right now."

"I know that pain is inevitable. But whether you suffer, and how long, largely comes down to your own choice. You can't prevent the birds of sorrow from flying over your head, but you _can_ prevent them from building a nest in your hair," Ginny argued, throwing in a proverb she'd learned from her grandmother. "I just want Harry to see that." She sighed.

"As do I. But he has to realise that on his own."

"I know!" Ginny groaned. "I know we have the benefit of an outsider's vantage point while Harry is trapped in the middle of his feelings. I realised that after I told him off. I just can't bear to see him suffer. And I can't stay away from him. He'll think I've abandoned him!"

"Well, maybe there is something you _can _do, as long as you don't really intrude on his feelings."

"Anything!" Ginny replied eagerly.

"Just be there for him. Hug him. Remind him why you love him, and tell him that you'll love him no matter what. Be his lifeline."

Ginny frowned, momentarily confused. "But you said that would get in the way of the healing process. What of all that talk about needing darkness to see the stars?"

"You can hold someone's hand in the darkness, can't you?" Aberforth's eyes twinkled mischievously. "I know it looks like I'm contradicting myself…wait…I'll put it differently. You can spend time with him, but you can't bring up his feelings verbally. That's what I meant about not intruding on his feelings."

"I see." Ginny nodded slowly, as she understood what Aberforth had said, and decided to take his advice. At least it would undo the damage she may have done earlier.

***

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Casual Reader: You're absolutely right. I _did _add the love letter bit to make Nathan's death hurt more. What can I say? I'm evil.

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BigDaddy: Thank you for the honour of adding me to your favourites list. As for the reason of Nathan's death: Being a Ranger is dangerous business. Some of them will inevitably die. I'd have killed Wolfe too, but he has to serve a grander purpose…for now.

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Gogirl: I understand your paranoia, but yes, Nathan will stay dead. I don't see how I could bring him back anyway. Harry's too sad to think straight, and the bad guys are torturing Wolfe.

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Maverick Davis: * evil cackle 

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nycgal: They won't find out about Wolfe for a while.

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pudadingding: Actually, I considered using the tossing bit, but I thought that would be taking the references a bit too far. I was just having a bit of fun with the LoTR moments, not trying to do a crossover of sorts. And what do you mean gay moment? Gay as in 'happy', or _gay_? Because frankly, I didn't preceive any of gay vibes people so often claim to notice between Frodo and Sam. ;-) As for the sword: It's a slaying weapon, and as such limited to an offensive role. Giving it too much power and capabilities would take away ant challenge the opponents could offer.

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SiriDragon: Yeah, I used the speech for two reason. First and foremost to put Ron in the 'best friend' spotlight again. I felt like I've been neglecting him a little. Secondly, I used it for the literal contents. NO matter how dire things seem right now, in the story, it'll all work out in the end.

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The Millenium One: I wasn't thinking about the Balrog when I wrote the troll. I guess your interpretation comes from the overall LoTR atmosphere in the chapter :-)

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Temporary Insanity: More evil than Rusky…Oh, thank you, that's the nicest compliment! The image of the Draconian was indeed borrowed from Escaflowne, but the pendants weren't. And finally: Gotta love ambiguous answers!

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A-Potter-Person: The stair surfing _was_ cool, wasn't it?

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the.grey.lady: Ginny deserves Harry too. People make mistakes, and Ginny's wrestling with her insecurities. And NO…Nathan will _not_ come back, although I understand your paranoia on the subject. :-) Anyway, what makes you think Wolfe will be rescued? Haven't I just proven that none of my characters are sacred?

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sherman: The ages vary. Matt is Fred and George's age, Wolfe is in between Percy and Fred and George. Galatea is Percy's age. Gudrun is ten years older than Ginny. Doc is in his early thirties. Does that give you an idea?

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Alina: I can't tell you exactly how long it'll be. I'm just hoping I'll beat the OoTP release date.

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Petals: So many questions. 1) Harry will feel guilty whether or not he was there at the time of death. 2) I'm not sure if a relationship between Matt and Gudrun would work out in the long run. Matt's twenty-three and a half at this point in the story, and Gudrun's thirty and a half. They're both Gemini... 3) I haven't got Gudrun's daughter planned in 14, though we might see her in 15, as well as Wolfe.

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Lamina Court: I've seen the movie five times, but that bit is in the books too. And no, no more bringing people from the dead.

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Philip: It's okay, I guess. Though I think the books are a tad long-winded. At times I found myself struggling to read on.

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Zaz: Actually, I wasn't even thinking about it in that context. But now that you mention it, yeah! :-)

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Rowan: There's nothing morbid about being curious. Anyway, I'll give you a hint. I'd have been in the same year as Harry, if the 'Nearly Headless Nick deathday theory' were applied. The zombie bit was kind of cheesy, wasn't it? _Zombies each sold separately, animation spells not included. _

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Nosgoroth: Well, what a coincedence!

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bubblez fairy: There can never be too much LoTR. 


	15. Relentless Evil

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Relentless Evil

Chapter 15

Draco hated the jungle. Even though the recently constructed base, like almost all the others, was below ground, it did little to reduce the oppressing humidity.

Yamato had arrived a month ago, having barely escaped from an unexpected raid by the Order of Illumination. Apparently Harry Potter had been part of the raiding party as well. The Rangers had destroyed two units of Yamato's newest invention. It was a device that effectively prevented the use of the magic wand and blocked all forms of teleportation, Portkeys included.

Three of those anti-magic cubes had been set up at various points in the base already, and they would come to life in the event of an intrusion. Then the insane Japanese necromancer and artificer had proceeded to redesign entire parts part of the base, in order to turn it into the ultimate death trap to anyone who would dare to invade. His narrow escape from the Rangers had rattled him deeply, and he was determined not to let that happen again.

Draco was a bit uneasy about the whole thing. He had a feeling that Yamato, who was always working to expand his army of zombies, would conveniently 'forget' to tell him about the placements of some of the traps. This unease only served to amplify the unease he'd already been feeling in light of his failure to break Max Wolfe.

In a desperate attempt to uncover his secrets, Draco had come up with the plan to have a magical parasitic personality possess Wolfe, and have it uncover his secrets from within. But somehow, the Ranger had managed to prevent the parasitic personalities from taking possession. The mists had just swirled around his head before dissipating, while in fact they should have entered his body through his nose. None of the experts had been able to explain how the hell this was possible.

"Malfoy!"

Draco sneered. Von Brandenburg's attempts to startle him were getting really annoying. "What?"

"I want a status report."

"Mr Yamato wasn't satisfied with the layout of the compound, and he set about redesigning the whole thing. Wolfe can't be transferred to this compound yet."

"And how is that project coming along?"

"We've taken some blood samples. Hopefully it'll give us some clues as to how he's resisting the efforts to break him. You can also tell your master that I'm going to need a rejuvenation bath."

Von Brandenburg scowled. "Our master, Malfoy. And why do you need a rejuvenation bath?"

Draco sighed exasperatedly. "He wants to keep Wolfe alive, doesn't he? Our attempts to interrogate Wolfe are taking their toll on his body."

"We don't have the resources to spare. Just have medically trained wizards patch him up when he's getting too weak."

"Ah, Wilhelm," Draco chuckled derisively. "Not being kept in the loop, are you?"

"What the hell are you talking about?"

"The report I sent to your master. I actually already tried what you suggested, and it ended up with Wolfe nearly escaping. He controls his magic to a degree few of our medically trained staff have ever witnessed. We're still not sure how he did it…"

"Did what?" Von Brandenburg demanded impatiently.

"Before healing him, he was stunned by four wizards, of course," Draco began. "That's standard—"

"I know how powerful he is! Get to the point."

"All right!" Draco smirked. "So they cast healing charms…sealed wounds, healed broken bones and all that. Then, Wolfe woke up and broke Matumbo's neck. Just broke it? Hell, he nearly twisted his head off." Draco paused, basking in Von Brandenburg's frustration. "Ah well, that crazy Zulu was getting on my nerves anyhow…"

"So? How did he wake up?"

"We think that he somehow redirected some of the healing magic to undo the stunners. That's why we need a rejuvenation bath. Then we can just have some golems dunk him in and pull him out when he's half-healed again, with no risk to our living…and undead staff. And another thing…we don't want him completely healed, and apparently it's hard to cast healing charms that only work halfway. The nature of healing charms, usually, is to heal completely. Unless of course the damage is so serious that no amount of magic can restore it."

Von Brandenburg smirked. "Yes, you would know all about that, wouldn't you?"

Draco shook his head. "Is this all the purpose to your visit? Are you a common errand boy now?"

"Actually, no. The Mistress sent for you and Mr Yamato." The vampire brandished a Portkey. "I have to inspect the base to report the progress."

"What's the point? I already told you everything."

"And I'm going to verify your statement," Von Brandenburg said calmly. "The organisation hasn't survived this long by blindly trusting the statements of insignificant minions."

"Oh, then I wonder who'll be seeing if your story checks out," Draco retorted.

"Just find Yamato," Von Brandenburg growled as he thrust the baton-shaped Portkey at Draco. The trigger phrase is 'hair-trigger'."

Draco offered a fake smile. "Cute…very cute." 

*

The Portkey took them to Anastasiou's principal lair. A dark troll had been sent to escort Draco and Yamato to the Mistress's location, since it seemed she wasn't in her quarters. It took them deeper and deeper underground, and to Draco's surprise, straight to his workplace.

She was observing the goings-on in the dungeon below, where Wolfe was being held. She stared at the Ranger with gleaming eyes, looking slightly out of breath, her cheeks flushed. Her obvious fascination with the prisoner made him feel uncomfortable.

"My Lady?"

She didn't acknowledge him, and kept staring at Wolfe, seemingly enraptured. This served to increase Draco's discomfort even more. What was so captivating about Wolfe anyway? Could it be his looks? Draco doubted that, because Wolfe looked like a mess after weeks of torture. 

"I've felt him. He must be one of the most powerful wizards in the world," She finally spoke. "Much more powerful than any wizard here…I wish to see him."

"It isn't safe, my Lady. He's extremely dangerous."

"I don't like it when you contradict me, Draco. Athanasios told me about your attitude. You may share my bed occasionally, but that doesn't make you my equal."

Draco's heart skipped a beat. "My Lady, I never presumed—"

"Good. That's settled." She looked at Yamato. "You know why I've summoned you?"

"Lord Anastasiou said that you wished to try the mind-reading potion." Yamato nodded.

"Do you have some with you?"

Yamato showed her a bottle with some brown liquid. "Do you intend to use it to read the Ranger?"

"Didn't he resist earlier attempts to read him?"

Draco nodded. They had attempted to read Wolfe's mind too, only to find out that Mind Readers themselves could feel it when someone tried to pry into their minds. "He did."

"Then I'll practice on weaker minds first, so I can become proficient." 

"I believe I may have the solution to our dilemma," Yamato said.

Draco looked at him sceptically. "I doubt it, but please, do tell!"

"His mental resistance is the partially the result of innate ability, but mostly due to rigorous training and conditioning. In order to open up those defenses, you need to upset him."

"Easier said than done. He's unshakeable."

"Really? I believe he has a girlfriend?"

"We can't realistically threaten her. She's too well guarded in Concordia. I thought of that…even tried it. But he knew as well as we did that we were bluffing."

"Yes, but this girlfriend has relatives who aren't as well defended, yes? If they are threatened, she might leave the immediate sphere of the Order's protection to help them, and make herself vulnerable. I'm sure he'll be so upset upon hearing that. His defenses will briefly come down, and that's when you introduce the parasitic personality. I guarantee it'll penetrate his defenses."

Draco didn't bother to hide his surprise. He hadn't thought off that. But he couldn't ponder it, because sounds of alarm emanated from the dungeon below. 

One of the Pain Technicians looked up. "Mr Malfoy, we must have pushed too hard. His heart has stopped!"

He couldn't let that happen. The Mistress had just made it perfectly clear that she wouldn't go out of her way to protect him from Anastasiou anymore. "Then revive him! Unshackle him!"

"I'd wait a minute if I were you!" Yamato said, peering at Wolfe's limp form.

"The longer we wait the harder it'll be to revive him."

"That's true, but if Lei Li trained him like—" Yamato didn't finish his sentence, but as the events below unfolded Draco got an idea of what he'd been about to say. Seconds after he'd been released, Wolfe came back to 'life,' snatched the wand out of the Pain Technician's hand and nailed him with a Killing Curse.

Wolfe seemed to be able to distinguish the Imperius victims from the from Anastasiou's actual minions, because the people under the Imperius Curse were stunned, while the rest were struck by the green beam of the Killing Curse. That insight had probably been granted by his Mind Reader abilities.

"Damn it, seal the dungeon!" Draco screamed. "Get a containment squad here on the double! Make that three!"

"Malfoy, I suggest we get ourselves as far away from his as possible. We've both seen him in action before. He could reach us by jumping. Activate the barrier."

Draco leapt toward the console and worked the appropriate controls. A crystal began to glow, and an orange light appeared in front of the glass. "That ought to hold him until—"

"He's broken through the door!" someone screamed.

"Give me your wand, Draco!" the Mistress said. "I'll stop him."

"But—" Draco sputtered.

"Have mine!" Yamato said quickly and handed her his wand.

The Mistress shot Draco a disapproving look before she swept out of the room.

"Why the hell did you give her your wand? What if Wolfe kills Her?"

"Better her than me," Yamato said as walked over to a crystal ball and waved his hand in front of it. Then he muttered an incantation. Yamato's upside down reflection faded and was replaced by a rear view of the Mistress as she resolutely moved to intercept Wolfe.

Draco nervously bit his nails while he watched the Mistress sweep through several corridors as she searched for Wolfe. He had no idea how she knew where she was going. But if she was indeed as in tune with the magic around her as she claimed to be, she could be tracking him by his magical aura. 

He held his breath the Mistress caught up with Wolfe at an intersection and he entered into the ball's view, which changed from a rear view to a side view that encompassed them both. If anything were to happen to her, he'd be blamed and his life would be forfeit. He doubted he could hide both from the Order of Illumination, and Anastasiou's organisation. 

Wolfe whirled around impossibly fast, preparing to cast a deadly curse…but he held back. He stared at the Mistress, the fierce look in his eyes replaced by a look of utter confusion. They just stared into each other's eyes for a while before the unimaginable happened. Wolfe slowly lowered the wand he had captured and spoke to her, holding out his hand. And the Mistress…blushed and looked at the floor.

"Can't we hear what they're saying?" Draco asked. He wanted to know what Wolfe could possibly have said to make her react like that.

"These images are being recorded. I'll show them to a lip reader later," Yamato replied.

Draco and Yamato then continued to follow the events in the ball. The Mistress met Wolfe's gaze again and shook her head apologetically. She spoke to him, and he in turn shook his head. Even though he wasn't a trained lip reader, Draco succeeded in reading Wolfe's lips as he replied. That was long ago. You're not evil. He beckoned to her again. It's okay. Come with me.

But she didn't go with him. She'd drawn her wand faster than he'd seen anyone draw his wand before, and stunned Wolfe by herself, a task that usually took three or four wizards of average power to accomplish.

The image disappeared, leaving him Draco to stare at his own confused expression. What the hell had Wolfe been getting at?

"She did it!" Yamato said delightedly. "She's magnificent, isn't she?"

Draco didn't answer.

"Malfoy?" Yamato snapped his fingers in Draco's face.

"Why didn't he try to kill her?"

"If you find me someone who'd adept at lip reading, we'll find out soon enough," Yamato answered. "I also need you to mobilise your spy network. There's something I'd like you to look out for."

Draco raised an eyebrow. "What's that?"

A maniacally malevolent expression stole over Yamato's face. "Oh, just the result of the going away present I gave my enemies last month."

*

"Wipe that stuff off your face." Gudrun admonished her daughter. "And are those my earrings?" 

Ginny saw that the girl had indeed overdone it with the makeup, and the liberal perfume she had sprayed on made Ginny slightly nauseous. She thought she recognised one of Heidi's expensive brands. Lilia must have introduced her to the tradition of nicking Heidi's things.

Maria, or Mary, as she insisted to be called, pouted. "You've got lots of earrings you don't do anything with, so I borrowed some. You said I could!"

Gudrun had recently given up sticking her face full of metal, arguing that she couldn't look like that in front of her daughter and still be an authority figure. Now she 'only' wore three rings in each ear.

"Hey, you!" Mayumi, with Gavin in tow strolled into the parlour. "You overdid it with the makeup and perfume. Why the dress up anyway?" Mayumi had finally returned from a prolonged mission, and she and Gavin had been making up for lost time. The Welsh wizard had bags under his eyes, but looked perfectly happy.

"Oh, I thought I'd keep myself presentable."

"Presentable, huh?" Gudrun smirked. "Or did you decide to make yourself pretty for Nicolai Savin?"

"Ugh, Gudrun! Nicolai is a geek!" Mary grimaced.

"Well, it was very nice of that geek to offer to help you with your Latin." Ginny frowned. "You should be a bit nicer to him." Since Latin was still the most commonly spoken language in Concordia, it was part of the educational curriculum. Mary was a very bright girl who spoke three languages, having been born and raised by Gudrun's mum in Winnipeg, but Latin wasn't one of them. 

Gudrun had recently told Ginny about her half-sister, and that her mum had had a falling out with her husband, after her half-sister drowned. He had blamed Gudrun, but Gudrun's mum hadn't. Their marriage had broken up because of that, and Gudrun's mum had moved to Canada in Gudrun's final year at Aurora School of Magic. It seemed like a lot of Rangers carried some emotional baggage from their childhood around…not just Harry. 

Ginny winked at the pouting girl. She knew that Mary liked Ironheart's grandson well enough. Even though the boy was the elder of the two, having turned nine in September, he already looked up to Mary, literally and figuratively speaking. 

Mary was very tall and strong for her eight and a half years, whereas her school-chum was small for his age. Her relatively long limbs, and large hands and feet hinted at a future height of at least six feet. Hardly surprising, according to Gudrun, since the girl's father had been six-foot-three, and Gudrun suspected he hadn't stopped growing yet, at the time.

The reason Nicolai had latched onto Mary was because Mary had used her size and strength to beat up a bully who had picked on Nicolai on her first day of school. This had caused Gudrun quite a bit of distress, since the Headmaster had wanted to expel Mary, saying that there was no place for such badly behaved children at Concordia's most distinguished primary school. Mary was suspended for a day while the teachers discussed the possibility of Mary's continued enrolment, and surprisingly they had decided to give her another chance. In fact, the Headmaster's attitude seemed to have taken a hundred and eighty-degree turn.

Mary wasn't making it easy for her mother. She refused to call Gudrun 'mum,' which seemed to hurt Gudrun a little. And like her mother, Mary had some serious 'attitude' towards people she didn't know. When she, Matt and Ron had accompanied Gudrun to the Portal Terminal at her own request, the first thing she had noticed was the stand-offish look she knew from Gudrun.

But Matt had broken through her defences as if they'd been made of wet tissues. There had been an almost instantaneous connection between Matt and the girl, and her attitude towards him had progressed from hostility to hero-worship in less than a day. A bit of the old Matt had actually resurfaced that day, as he jokingly proclaimed that no woman could resist him, whether she be eight or eighty-eight.

Ginny giggled teasingly. "I think I know why Mary's all dressed up. Isn't Matt coming over soon?"

Mary's blush could have given Ginny's 'Weasley blush' a run for its money. Gudrun's face, on the other hand, drained of all colour. "Oh no, I completely forgot! Look at me, I'm a mess." She scowled at her daughter. "You little…you were supposed to remind me!" With that, bolted out of the parlour and up the stairs.

"Now that was an unexpected turn of events," Gavin said. He was still trying to process the fact that Gudrun's crush on Matt was as big as her daughter's was. It was so bad that she'd nearly hexed Heidi and Lilia on several occasions because she'd suspected them of poaching what she saw as 'her territory.' While her housemates had staunchly denied this, Ginny had a feeling that Gudrun's suspicions had been dead on. No longer supremely obnoxious due to Nathan's death, Matt's new, doleful demeanour attracted women to him like moths were attracted to a flame. At times, Ginny had felt like giving him a hug too, and if Harry hadn't existed, she'd have considered having a go at him herself.

The front door of the townhouse slammed shut, announcing the arrival of one of the residents. A minute later, Galatea and her sister Perse came in. The arrival of her sister had done Galatea a lot of good, as the animated French chattering Ginny frequently heard seemed to indicate.

Perse was an incredibly beautiful woman. There was no denying it. Galatea was beautiful as well, but not particularly so for quarter-Veela. Hermione had simply stopped bringing Ron over because his behaviour around Perse was, while hilarious to Ginny, infuriating to Hermione. It was as if she were a full-blooded Veela, because even Harry had trouble keeping a straight face when she unleashed her Veela charm. 

Maybe her stronger Veela powers were a compensation for the fact that she was a rather weak witch. She said she'd had to work three times as hard as the others on subjects that required wand work, to achieve the same or lesser results. When it became clear that she simply wasn't powerful enough to keep up with the others, the Faculty at Southern Cross had allowed her to take several extra theoretical elective subjects. But she couldn't Apparate, and her wizarding license had some restrictions on it.

Mayumi elbowed Gavin, who'd been staring at Perse as if he'd never seen a woman before, in the ribs to snap him out of it.

"Would anyone like tea?" Perse asked kindly, as she arranged a blanket over her sister's lap to keep her warm. Pregnant part-Veela apparently had little tolerance for cold, so everyone did their best to keep Galatea warm and cosy. Gudrun had even made her stash of trophy socks available. 

"Yes, please," Ginny said.

"That would be lovely," Mayumi said, smiling sweetly…too sweetly.

"I'll hel—yeeaarrgh," Gavin screamed. Mayumi was twisting his wrist.

"Oh, sorry sweetheart, was that your hand? Sit down, let me have a look at it."

"Spend some time with your girlfriend, Gavin." Ginny smirked. It was a good thing that Harry was more resistant then most when it came to entrancement magic. She didn't have to worry about Veela stealing him from her. Harry's troubles lay in a different area.

She'd followed Aberforth's advice and showered Harry with affection, yet never touching the subject of his guilt directly. He seemed to draw strength from this, to Ginny's relief, and he'd been showing signs of recovery. He no longer looked sleep-deprived, and Ginny was pretty sure that he hadn't been using sleeping draught, unless he somehow acquired it outside the Citadel. But she didn't think so, since he'd rarely been alone long enough to do that.

Galatea hadn't been biased when she said that Perse was a good singer. The younger Veela-woman was humming a happy tune in the kitchen, and Binks the House-elf was swaying to the song on his miniature stool…or maybe he was just anxious to help Perse. Even though it was the House-elf's day off, he couldn't completely suppress his nature.

It looked like Perse had sensed this as well. "Binks, I can't find the cinnamon. Could you please get some from the pantry?"

Ginny was nearly bowled over by the House-elf as he took off for the pantry in a flash, but she evaded the elf at the last moment. "Always eager to please, aren't they? Mum always wanted a House-elf helping her around the house."

"I have never even seen a House-elf before I came to Concordia," Perse said, with only the slightest trace of a French accent.

"Really? Who did the cooking and laundry at Southern Cross?"

"There is a cooking staff, about thirty golems to do the laundry and cleaning, and students have to help sometimes with spring cleaning and holiday decorations. But it is a smaller school than Hogwarts…never more than eighty girls. My sister Thetis wants to become a cook later. She liked to help the cooks just for fun."

"We only had to help when we had detention of some sort." Even though Ginny wasn't afraid of a little manual labour, she still made a face at the memory. "So, are you going to move in with Padma?"

Perse nodded. "I had to get to know her first, but I believe we will get along okay. I'll start moving tomorrow."

"Excellent! I can have my own room, then!" Mary piped, as she strode into the kitchen, dragging Nicolai behind her. "Can we have some chocolate?"

"After you're finished with your homework," Ginny said sternly. "And don't even think about copying off Nicolai. I know a spell that'll turn your ears blue if you've been cheating."

Mary stuck out her tongue. "There is no such spell."

"What spell?" a familiar yet unexpected male voice asked.

"Harry!" Ginny jumped up and threw her arms around him, giving him several quick pecks on the lips. "What are you doing here?"

"I was supposed to train Danielle Esklove, but the person who made the new schedule forgot about Shabbath. I've got the evening off, and I thought you'd like my company. Was my assumption misplaced, Miss Weasley?"

"Oh, not at all, Mr Potter," Ginny said, kissing him again.

"Matt was coming over too, but he got held up by Commander Nomvete," Harry added. "I reckon he'll be here shortly."

"Harry, is it true that there's a spell that'll turn your ears blue if you're lying?" Mary asked

Harry glanced at Ginny, who gave him a mischievous smile. From the glint in his eyes, she could tell that he'd caught on, and was going to play along. "Why? Were you planning on having Nicolai do your homework again?"

"No," Mary said with a perfectly straight face, although Ginny and Harry knew that had been exactly what she'd been planning to do. "I was just curious."

"I know what you're thinking," Harry began, "does such a spell exist or not? Well, to tell you the truth, I'm not sure…there are so many spells to remember." Harry drew his wand. "But being as this is my eleven-inch holly and phoenix feather wand, believed by some to be the most powerful wand in the world, and would turn your ears blue for weeks, you've got to ask yourself one question: 'Do I feel lucky?'" He paused to let his words sink in. "Well, do you?" Harry glanced down at Mary menacingly.

"I'm going to do my homework now," Mary said in a subdued voice, and left the kitchen dragging her silent companion along. 

Ginny shook her head. "Dirty…Harry. That was cruel. She's just a child. I bet you scared her to death."

"Not just any child…Gudrun's child." Harry grinned. "She's a little intimidated at most…and did she use Heidi's perfume?"

Ginny giggled. "Yep."

"You really should leave her stuff alone, you know. She thinks you girls make fun of her behind her back."

"She's right! So?"

"It's making her feel insecure. She's trying hard to fit in, but Galatea's the only one who is nice to her."

Ginny frowned suspiciously. "Why did she go cry to you about this? She could've just confronted us."

"She told me she tried to a few times. You mean she didn't?"

Blushing guiltily, Ginny looked away. Heidi had tried to talk to her housemates about it, more than a few times. While Ginny still didn't like the fact that Heidi had gone to Harry, of all people, with her problems, she knew Harry wasn't defending Heidi because he still had feelings for her. Harry was just being Harry…yes, that had to be it!

"I know you're just having a bit of fun, but don't have it at her expense. I know what it's like not to fit in." Perse added. 

Ginny rolled her eyes. "All right. I won't borrow any of her things, and I'll talk to the others about it."

Harry expressed his gratitude by flashing her that grin that never failed to sap the strength right out of her legs. "I knew you'd understand." Then he turned to Perse, "How did it go with Padma?"

"It went well, thank you. I am moving tomorrow. Tea?" Perse asked, as Binks returned with the cinnamon and handed it to her.

"I could use a cuppa," Harry said. 

Unable to restrain himself, Binks jumped in and began helping Perse, and soon, Harry and Ginny had a few mugs of steaming tea in front of them. Perse and Binks left with not only tea, but also a whole assortment of cookies and small pastries that Binks had scrounged from throughout the kitchen, leaving Harry and Ginny alone.

Harry summoned a chair over and sat down, pulling Ginny onto his lap and brushed a fringe of hair out of her eyes as he gazed into them adoringly. "You're being so patient with me. It means a lot to me, you know?"

"I know," Ginny said softly. "You don't have to excuse yourself. I'm not you. I can't imagine how it feels—" She was silenced by Harry's finger on her lip.

"I'm very lucky to have someone like you" —he reached into his pocket, took out a tiny box and opened it— "and I hope you never leave me."

Ginny's heart was pounding so hard it felt like it was knocking her ribs loose. It was simple yet beautiful, a gold ring with a diamond that seemed to sparkle with its own light. The sparkle grew in intensity as he slid it over her finger.

"Doc helped me pick it out. He accompanied me to make sure that the jeweller wouldn't swindle me. The jeweller said the diamond would sparkle brightly as long as you love me." 

"H-Harry? Are you…was that…are you asking me to…?"

"Uh…well, I guess I am." Harry blushed. "Ginny…Believe me when I tell you I don't love anyone else like I love you. We've been putting things off for so long…waiting for better times. But Nathan and Helga wanted to wait for better times, and Wolfe and Galatea."

Ginny's feelings cooled a little. "Are you just doing it because you're scared?"

"No, of course not! I'm doing it because I love you. I'm going to do everything in my power to come back to you after each mission. But I know there are no guarantees. If you don't want to marry me now, that's okay. But please promise me that we'll always be together."

His eyes shone desperately, revealing how badly he wanted her, needed her to make that promise. She knew he'd always blame himself for other people's deaths to some extent. Everybody did that. But it was time to show him that she'd be there for him in any case. "Whatever evil may come our way, it'll never tear me away from you." She lowered her face to his and they shared their unique, soul-merging kiss. She poured everything she had into it, and when they broke apart, they crashed onto the chair they'd been sitting on, cracking one of its legs.

She got off his lap and took his hand, guiding him out of the kitchen, up the stairs and into her room. She locked the door behind her and cast a Silencing Charm around her room. Then she dimmed the lights with a flick of her wand, and lit some scented candles with the next flick.

Ginny had always thought it was going to be planned weeks in advance and take a lot of preparation. But now she realised that, like everything else in life, the moment could just creep up on you. It felt right! She saw the light of love shine in his eyes, and saw her own eyes reflected in his.

"Ginny?" Harry croaked. His face betrayed his longing, and how hard he was trying to remain rational. It was as if she could read his mind. She knew what he'd been about to ask.

"I'm ready," she whispered, pulling him to the bed. "Everything is fine. Everything will be fine. I love you, Harry!"

"I love you, Ginny."

***

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Author's Note: Several people asked me what the title of chapter 14 meant. In the old days, purple dye used to be rare and expensive, and very little cloth was dyed purple for that reason. The colour was reserved for royalty and nobility in many countries. The title refers to Matt. He is 'born to the purple'.

On another note, I'm going on a two-week holiday this Friday. I'll take a diskette with me, and I'll try to update on April 5th. But don't count on it. Expect the next update to be April 14th, and be pleasantly surprised if I update sooner.

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Gogirl: A belated happy birthday :-p And don't worry, I'll begin tormenting others pretty soon.

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Lioness-07863: This chappie had some Wolfe. Satisfied? ;-)

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The Millenium One: You'll have to wait a while longer.

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rowan: I just feel old.

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Zaz: Interesting poem.

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BigDaddy753: Harry was too busy guilt-tripping to explode on anybody.

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Beth Weasley: Harry will never get over the responsibility complex completely.

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Sherman: Well, you can't really have action sequences in every chapter. In fact, it's chapter like these that you ought to read more carefully, since they often contain the hints to the future plot twist.

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Ginny1946: Well, Byron Kelly and Matt are very much alike. But there are other reasons. You'll have to wait and see.

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Petals: Actually, at that point, a few weeks had gone by, so Hermione and Ron have been trying a bit longer. Oh, and as you can se, Harry and Ginny made up. :-)

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caroline: See author's note for the answer to your question. Thanks for the review.

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Lamina Court: Not much screen time for Galatea, for the time being.

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Maab: I know, but like you pointed out, most people don't. Hence the deliberate mistake.

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nycgal: Sarah Esklove will make an appearance in chapter 16

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the.grey.lady: Where I nicked the quotes from? ;-) Oh, you know, here and there. And I repeat, NONE of my OC's is sacred.

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Nosgoroth: The grief has yet to begin, in this story.

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Fin-Phoenix: Sorry for the long wait. I know I don't update as quickly as most. But between having a life and not wanting to rush my writing to prevent turning out crappy material, it takes a while. Thanks for the review. Hopefully your name will pop up every so often.

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Lana Riddle: What does Kudos mean, and where did the expression originate?

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amy: Harry's 5th Class, Martial Division. Hermione's 7th Class in both Intel Analyses and Medical. Ron doesn't formally hold a rank yet. He's still in training, like Ginny, though at a more advanced stage. Ron is an Intel Field Operative, and Ginny divides her time between the Medical Division, and the Artificing Division, although she spend more time with the Artificers since she needs more training in that field. I think Padma may make an appearance, but not for a while. 

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Casual Reader: That's the question, isn't it?

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SiriDragon: Whatever you say, asexual chicken girl. ;-)

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karthik: Yeah, I feel philosophical every now and then. 


	16. Necromancer's Revenge

**Disclaimer: **A snippet in this chapter was borrowed froma novel written by Elaine Cunningham. (Hope I spelled the name correctly)

**Necromancer's Revenge**

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Chapter 16

Hermione stifled a yawn while she kept an eye on the runes that scrolled down her mirror. When she'd chosen to divide her time between Intel Analyses and the Medical Division, she had hoped that she'd never get stuck pulling monitoring duty. It was an important part of the overall scheme of things, and she was careful not to let her attention slack despite the boredom.

Four Intel Rangers were down with a nasty magical flu, so she'd been called up to share the burden with the remaining Intel personnel. She just wished that she had got a chance to catch up on sleep, but she'd had to report to Command and Control right after her shift in the medical wing.

She was also irked by the fact that Commander Nomvete had scheduled her in so late. She'd been planning to drop by a lingerie shop to pick up a set that she was sure Ron would like. She smirked, imagining the unease Ron had to be feeling right at that moment, standing in a shop filled with women's underwear. Unable to pick up her order herself, she'd sent Ron in her stead. For some reason, he was reluctant even to set foot in shops meant for women. But for her, he'd brave the odd looks cast in his direction.

He'd been trying so hard in their efforts to conceive, and he had seemed a bit put out by the lack of results. But sweet as he was, he'd done his best not to let it show. It wasn't his fault that she was more perceptive than the average person was. Maybe her purchase would help take his mind off the setbacks, and focus on the task at hand.

Hermione heaved a sigh. Conceiving was going to be very difficult, because her menstrual cycle had been extremely erratic ever since she'd been attacked, and it made planning for the optimal conception time all but impossible. All she could do was take her temperature and graph it out to predict her ovulation. Even so, her chances of conceiving were slim, due to the extent of the harm they Death Eaters had done. She only hoped that her efforts wouldn't be in vain, knowing how much Ron wanted children.

She glanced at Sarah Esklove, who had volunteered to help out with the monitoring duty, despite the fact that it was Friday after sundown. Commander Nomvete had completely forgotten about her and her sisters' desire to observe Shabbath whenever possible. But given the nature of the situation, Sarah hadn't made a big deal of it and had been glad to help out. 

But it wasn't like Commander Nomvete to make these kinds of mistakes. She was the most organised person Hermione knew. Maybe running the Order by herself for an extended period of time was beginning to take its toll on her. Her anxiety had seemed to soar to new heights that morning and she'd had several meetings with Captain Sharif, Captain Kovalenko and Captain Faust, causing Hermione to wonder if something big was in the works.

Glancing at her wrist, Hermione noticed that she had forgotten her watch. She groaned. "How long has it been?" 

Chronos, a brand new golem which served as an auxiliary monitoring aide, and had been roaming C&C for three months, turned to face her. Its head tilted to the side, almost as if it were mimicking a quizzical expression. "Was that a request for information, or a rhetorical question?"

"I wasn't talking to anyone in particular, Chronos."

"Understood," the golem continued. "To avoid future misunderstanding, however, perhaps you should give orders in the second person imperative; for example, 'Scan for localised magical fluctuations over London,' or 'Analyse the signature of that magical surge.'"

"How about, 'Report to maintenance bay for a personality graft?' "

"Was that an order or an insult?" the golem asked. 

"Whatever works!" Hermione snapped, hoping the golem would leave her alone.

"Whoa!" Sarah suddenly exclaimed, rousing everyone in C&C out of their light torpor. "Talk about energy surges! I'm reading a huge spike!"

"Where?" Lieutenant Li asked, as she scrambled towards Sarah's mirror console.

"In our back yard, Lieutenant…it's coming from Concordia. "I'm narrowing it down…Sixth Tier…huh?" She frowned. "Hermione, isn't that where you used to live?"

Hermione nodded. It was the townhouse. "Chronos, analyse the signature of that magical surge."

"Send a sentinel globe to check it out," Li ordered, and Sarah deftly worked a few controls. "And alert the emergency response team, just in case."

"I've directed the northern section sentinel globe, Lieutenant," Sarah reported. "We should be able to see what is going on in thirty seconds."

In a meantime, Chronos had pressed his metal finger into a matching slot, and the glowing gemstones that were his eyes oscillated as he worked to analyse the surge. His ability to interface with the magical crystal that, like a giant Muggle computer, contained all the data gathered by the Order over the years, enabled him to sift through the layers of information much more easily than the Rangers could. 

Hermione was certainly grateful for this computer-like resource. It sure beat having to look through lots of books, and it could also produce pensieve-memories and other types of audio-visual recordings. Inwardly, she thanked the three Muggle-born Rangers who had conceived of, and lobbied for, the idea.

"Classification…accidental magic, cause…excitement. The signature correlates with that of Harry James Potter, Ranger Fifth Class of the Martial Division. The scenario does not suggest danger."

"We have a visual," Chronos continued, as he patched the image through to the giant mirror screen. Hermione saw an intense beam of golden light shine through the gaps in the curtains. "Applying enhanced monitoring spell to get a view of the interior."

"Chronos, wait!" Hermione gasped, having a good idea what image would lie beyond, but it was too late. The image of the exterior of the townhouse faded and was replaced by a close-up of the inside of her former room. The entwined bodies of Harry and Ginny were easily visible, and the present analysts began whistling and catcalling.

"Way to go, Potter!" Alejandro Viera, merry-faced Portuguese wizard whooped, grinning broadly. "Finally we get some entertainment around here. I thought the boredom was going to kill me. We ought to play voyeur more often! Are you recording this, Wong?"

"You bet!" his Chinese colleague replied. 

"Chronos, kill the visual feed, please!" a red-faced Lieutenant Li said.

"I fail to comprehend the semantic meaning of your query, Lieutenant," the golem said, not breaking the transmission. It is impossible to destroy—"

"I meant stop, cease, terminate!" Li barked. "Now!"

"Understood!" Chronos said and the image winked out a moment later.

"Awww!" Wong and Viera chorused, laying their disappointment on thickly.

"This doesn't go beyond this room!" Li declared, letting her gaze linger on Wong and Viera a little longer. "And erase whatever you've recorded."

"Don't worry. I haven't recorded anything." Wong grinned. "You'll have to Obliviate me, though. You know I won't be able to keep a straight face if I see those two any time soon!"

"You'll keep a straight face, or I'll have to discipline you myself!"

Wong looked at her inquisitively. "Hmmm, was that a threat or a proposition?"

Lieutenant Li blushed and rattled a few sentences in Chinese.

Smiling cheekily, Wong rolled his eyes. "Ladies…" 

Viera cleared his throat and pretended to look insulted. 

"…and gentleman." Wong smirked. Anyone who doesn't know about my history with our lovely Lieutenant, raise your hand!"

Only Sarah Esklove, the most recent addition to the Order, blushed furiously and raised her hand.

Wong shrugged. "So much for discretion."

Hermione grinned. Those two were yet another couple of Rangers who had chemistry, but seemed to lack the necessary compatibility to have an actual relationship. It reminded her of Matt and Gudrun. Although…maybe _that_ relationship had some potential after all, because there were a few binding factors that had been previously absent. They had saved each other's lives, they both felt responsible for Nathan's death, and Matt's uncanny connection with Gudrun's daughter.

According to Gudrun, the girl worshipped Matt like a demigod, and had even taken to imitating his gait and his insolent grin. Hermione doubted it, because she had met Mary shortly after the girl's arrival in Concordia, and had noticed that confident strut _before_ Matt had broken through Mary's façade of hostility and befriended her. Moreover, Matt had still been in a state of depression early November, and consequently his typical strut had been more reserved.

Hermione guessed that Gudrun's paranoia could stem from a tinge of jealousy she might be feeling towards Matt, for the ease with which he had befriended her daughter, while her daughter kept making things difficult for her even today.

"Hey Granger, you can leave!" Noelani Winters said, waving her hand in front of Hermione's face to get her attention and snapping her out of her reverie. 

"Is it time already?"

"Don't act so disappointed," the witch from Hawaii said.

Hermione laughed. "I'll see you lot later!"

"Say hello to Potter and Miss Ginny Weasley for us," Wong said.

"Honestly!" Hermione huffed, turning her back to the two Rangers who were sniggering like teenaged boys. She knew they wouldn't say anything, though, because Harry was perfectly capable of kicking them into the next time zone.

When Hermione reached the Entrance Hall, she remembered she had left her watch in one of the labs, so she hurried towards the medical ward to fetch it.

The sound of several voices echoed through the corridor that led to the main laboratory. This meant the medical wing was unusually crowded, which was strange. Only one Ranger and two non-Ranger assistants were supposed to be here on the evening shift, provided that there weren't any patients, of course.

She followed the sound of the voices to a small recovery room…the same one where Ginny had lain after they thought Harry had fallen to his death. She saw Commander Nomvete exchanging urgent words with Captain Sharif, Captain Kovalenko and Captain Faust. Lilia sat next to the bed, and was talking to someone Hermione couldn't make out yet. Lieutenant Cliff, who was bending over that person, was blocking the view.

The commander looked very old and careworn.

"Excuse me. I forgot something earlier. What is going on?"

Nomvete seemed just about ready to burst into tears. "Something terrible has happened."

*

Ginny stirred and pressed herself closer to Harry as his fingers lazily trailed along her spine. She opened her eyes and looked up at his face, immediately meeting his startling green eyes that never failed to move her, be it in a positive or negative sense. "I dozed off?"

Harry smiled warmly. "Yes, you did. We've been in here for about three hours. I reckon the others will give us an earful when we go downstairs."

She lifted her head off his shoulder and felt her cheek peel away from his skin, leaving behind a gooey sensation. She had drooled on him! Typical, that she had to ruin a perfect moment by drooling. She was willing to bet that 'graceful Heidi' had never done that. "Oh—"

"Don't worry about that," Harry said, kissing her wet cheek. "I love every part of you."

Ginny pouted despite herself. "Oh Harry, be honest! I must look like a complete fool. I'm sure that Hei—" She couldn't quite catch herself in time, and she was sure that Harry knew who she'd been about to mention. She looked away, unable to meet Harry's eyes. _Now_ she'd really messed things up.

"There's supposed to be a real difference when two people who don't care about each other have sex, and lovemaking between two people who really love each other. Tonight I experienced that difference, Ginny. Heidi is no substitute for you. I never intended her to be, either."

She was quite surprised at his patient and loving tone of voice. She'd practically invited an argument. "But she never drooled, did she?"

"She never drooled on my shoulder…but…Do you really want to talk about this?"

Ginny nodded, and Harry gave a sigh of resignation. 

"I rarely spent the night, and when I did, I never really cuddled with her. I just crawled as far away from her as possible and pretended to fall asleep. I guess I was a little ashamed every time after…err, we, um…"

Harry was obviously having a lot of difficulty discussing this with her, and she immediately regretted having brought up the issue. But he'd decided to talk about it anyway, and she appreciated his effort even more because of it. Ginny was just about to tell him that he didn't have to talk about if he didn't want to, when he continued.

"She didn't seem to notice, and if she _did_ notice, she didn't seem to mind. Or maybe she _did_ mind, but she never let it show…I guess she minded, though. Come to think of it, it wasn't a very good way to treat her. I bet I hurt her…"

Ginny bit her lip. That was Harry, all right…always thinking of others.

"My point is, I don't love Heidi. I love you! I know it bothers you that I'm still closer to Heidi than the other blokes, but—"

"That's not true!" Ginny objected.

"Ginny, I'm not oblivious to _everything_, you know. How would you explain that look you gave me when I asked you not to borrow Heidi's things? It really bothered you that she came to me. I mean, you practically spelled it out for me."

"I guess I'm just the jealous type, then," Ginny said softly. She couldn't explain away her behaviour. She was terrified of losing Harry to another woman. "I'm sorry."

"Don't be sorry. It's part of you, and part of the reason why I love you." He gave her an infectious grin. "I guess it runs in the family. Look at Ron!"

Ginny giggled. "If that trait is so loveable, does that mean I'll have to worry about my own brother giving me competition? Why, Mr Potter, I didn't know you swung both ways!"

"Twice the chance of getting a date," Harry managed to say with a straight face, before he chuckled. "Poor Ron! He was pretty upset when he found out about Captain Sharif. Imagine what would happen if I were to declare my undying love."

Ginny began counting on her fingers. "Hermione would kill you. Then I'd find a way to revive you so I could kill you again. Then—" She was silenced by Harry's mouth covering hers, and she was pressed back into the pillows.

"Oh, Ginny…I love you more than anything," Harry said huskily when he'd broken the kiss. His eyes were glowing with intense longing again. "Why can't we just have a little luck on our side every now and then?"

"I don't know about you, but I feel like the luckiest woman alive."

"I don't," Harry said, and Ginny's heart briefly stopped beating and her eyes widened with worry. "I mean, how could I? I'm not a woman!"

"Damn you!" Ginny laughed, before pulling him down for another long kiss.

"Tell you what. I'll make you a deal," Harry began, after they'd reluctantly resurfaced for air. "Do your best to forget about Heidi, and I'll try not to let deaths get to me this much."

"I couldn't do that…make this deal, I mean! It isn't the same thing. My feelings about Heidi are trivial compared to what you have to endure."

"Nothing about you is trivial, Ginny. You're the most important person in my life. And on a basic level, our feelings are exactly the same…unfounded."

Ginny looked at him, completely nonplussed. After all, he wasn't making any sense. She shook her head. "No, Harry. Your grief is very well founded."

"But my self-blame isn't. You can't prevent the birds of sorrow from flying over your head, but you _can_ prevent them from building a nest in your hair."

Ginny narrowed her eyes. "Where did you hear that?"

"I overheard a very wise and beautiful woman say that, once." Harry smiled, running his hand along the curves of her body.

"You were listening at the door?" Ginny gasped.

He shook his head. "I was in the room. I threw on my invisibility cloak and cast a personal silencing charm around myself. I pretended to go out and I opened and closed the door. But I don't believe I had Aberforth fooled."

"And my words just swung you around?" Ginny asked sceptically. She couldn't believe that it had been that easy.

"Not immediately," he said, confirming her scepticism. "But they certainly haunted my thoughts."

"But I told you the same things _before_! Why didn't my words mean anything until _then_?"

"I guess I had the benefit of an observer's point of view. And I couldn't bear to have you worry about me like that. I didn't have my epiphany until today, though."

"Really? When did you see the light?"

"When the rest of the neighbourhood did," Harry said, and it took a few seconds for Ginny to realise what he meant.

She felt her entire body grow warm, as if she were blushing all over. "We really did make a light-show, didn't we?" She gave him a coy smile. "And what exactly made you change your mind, at that moment?"

"I'm already forgetting…but we could recreate the moment to refresh my memory," he said, and lowered himself down next to her where he began kissing her neck.

She shuddered with delight and briefly wondered if he were just a natural, or if this was the product of his past experience. After a few seconds, she decided that she didn't care! Harry was _hers_ now. But fate interfered again by making her stomach growl fiercely, proclaiming its needs.

"Hungry?" Harry mumbled, not stopping with his ministrations.

"Starving!"

He backed away just far enough to be able to look her in the eyes. "Then let's take a shower and go downstairs to raid the kitchen."

"But I don't want this to end…can't we just risk a quick trip to the kitchen?" she asked hopefully.

Harry laughed softly. "Ginny…right now, we have a very distinctive smell. If Gudrun catches us, we'll never live it down. You could try a Summoning Charm, if you know _exactly where everything is."_

"The House-elves are the ones who arrange the things in the cupboards. It'll be too tricky."

"Then I'll have to go downstairs." 

"But it's a cold night, and you're nice and warm…"

"So now that you've had your way with me, I've been demoted to a bed-warmer?"

Ginny giggled. "I just want to be close to you as much as possible."

"We can continue being close in the shower," Harry suggested. "Or…I could take a quick shower and get us some food. You could pour us a warm bath, and we can carry on in the tub."

"Hmmm, you certainly seem to know what you're doing. Are you sure you haven't done this before?"

"No. I'm making this up as I go along. I can't help getting inspired by you." Harry met her gaze with such sincerity that any feelings of insecurity she may have harboured evaporated.

"All right, but my tub is too small for two," Ginny sighed wistfully.

"Honestly Ginny, are you a witch or not?"

Ginny laughed. "I guess Mum's threat was true. Girls who have sex before marriage _do suffer a twenty-point I.Q. drop."_

"Did your mum really say that?"

"Anything to have me retain my virtue, no matter how ludicrous." Her stomach growled again. "Forget the bathtub plan. I have to eat as soon as possible."

"Your lips are moving, but I hear Ron," Harry joked.

"Well, what did you expect? My whole life, I've been conditioned to have a healthy appetite." She hopped off the bed and skipped over to the bathroom.

"D'you want me to wash your back?" Harry asked from the bedroom.

Ginny smiled. "Not right now, thank you. I'm really hungry and I don't need the distraction."

"So now I'm nothing more than a distraction?"

"That's right, lover," Ginny said, playing the game.

"That's it, is it? Wham, bam, thank you mister? Am I nothing but a piece of meat? I thought you said you loved me!" 

Ginny leaned towards the door and poked her heard around the doorjamb. "Isn't that supposed to be the girl's line?" she giggled. "And you don't _have to go back to the Citadel tonight, you know!"_

*

"Hermione?" Ron called, but received no answer. That was strange, because she should have been home despite her shift in C&C. Glancing at his watch, he saw that she was about three hours late.

A chorus of meowing briefly diverted his attention from Hermione. Crookshanks and a beautiful blue-furred cat were looking at him inquisitively, and Crookshanks pawed his milk bowl.

"Bloody hell, I've got to feed your girlfriend too, now?" he muttered as he rinsed the bowl and poured fresh milk into it. Noticing that his food bowl was empty as well, Ron summoned it over and summoned the cat food out of a cabinet.

Crookshanks actually made a face at the cat food and looked up at him, as if he were demanding to see the manager.

"What's your problem?" Ron asked impatiently.

Crookshanks looked at Heidi's cat before turning back to him with a mournful look. 

"Ah, got to impress the girlfriend, do you?" Ron sighed. Deep down he sympathised. He wanted to give Hermione the best he could afford too. "All right, I'll see what I can dig up."

After rummaging through the cabinet and adding a few sardines to Crookshanks' supper, he finally got the chance to look for Hermione. First he muttered the incantation that would activate the security spell of the house. Then he tapped the mirror on the upper frame twice and the lower frame four times as he uttered the appropriate words.

Noelani Winters' face appeared to replace of his own reflection. "Hey, Ron. I guess you want to know what's keeping Hermione."

"Right in one," Ron said, the slight anxiety he had felt over Hermione's absence draining away slowly.

"She's in the medical wing."

Ron's anxiety came charging back, regaining the ground it had so recently lost.

"Hermione's okay," Winters assured him, reading his worried expression. "It's something else…the rest of us just found out. I'm not allowed to tell you through the mirror connection since it might not be safe despite the ward you have in place. I was about to call you anyway. She told me to tell you she wouldn't be home tonight. It's very important, though. She's not blowing your _previous engagement_ off for something trivial," the Hawaiian witch added with a slight smirk.

Ron blushed. Hermione had hinted about his recent performances to Gudrun. Gudrun told Lilia, who told Serafina, who then proceeded to tell pretty much everyone else how good a job he'd been doing. It was nice to know that Hermione appreciated it, but he wondered why she hadn't kept it to herself! Then again, she was probably regretting it already. "Can you let her know I'm coming over?"

"Will do," Winters said, and looked away from the screen. "Hold on…don't take a portal. You're not supposed to go anywhere right now, are you?"

Ron shook his head. "Why?"

"If you take a portal to the Citadel, possible unfriendly eyes may notice, and logically assume that something might be up. Take an emergency Portkey."

"I haven't got one right now."

"We know…which is why you have to go to Gudrun. She does have one, and you can share hers."

"She needs to be there too?"

"More than anyone else," Winters said seriously.

It suddenly struck Ron. Something had to be wrong with Matt! Ginny had told him about the sudden dizzy-spells he had sometimes. "I understand. Thanks!"

Ron summoned his broomstick. It was cold outside, but the skies were clear and he had endured worse temperatures in the past. A short broom ride later he was standing in front of the heavy door that provided access to the townhouse.

He rang the bell, and about thirty seconds later the door swung open. Gudrun's daughter was standing on the doorstep in a nightdress, looking up at him with sleepy chagrin. "Oh, it's you."

"Nice to see you too, Mary," Ron said, ushering her back in so she wouldn't catch a cold. "What are you doing up so late?" he asked as he closed the door behind them.

"It's Friday."

"It's nearly midnight."

"Matt was supposed to come over." Mary gave him a hopeful look. "Do you know where he is?"

"At the Citadel. He's terribly busy, I'm afraid." Ron felt a little guilty about lying to the girl, but it was better than letting her worry. It was obvious that she was very fond of Matt. "Where's your mum?"

"Upstairs in the attic. You can't go there because you're a boy," she added, telling Ron what he already knew.

"Can you call her for me? It's terribly important."

"Why?"

"I can't tell you!"

"Why?"

"Because I'm not supposed to talk about Ranger business."

"Why?"

"It's top secret."

"Why?"

Ron opened and closed his mouth. Susie and Millie had pulled this stunt on him once.

Thankfully, rescue came in the form of his little sister. "Ron?"

"Ginny! Could you get Gudrun for me?"

"Is something the matter?"

Ron glanced at Mary, indicating that he couldn't talk about it in front of her, and Ginny got the cue. "Not really. There are just some things we need to discuss." Ron's stomach growled. "You wouldn't mind if I had a snack, would you?"

"I'll go get Gudrun. Help yourself to whatever you like in the kitchen... but don't overdo it. The rest of us have to eat too!" she teased, and skipped up the stairs.

Ginny seemed to be in an awfully good mood. She'd been positively glowing, and he had a feeling it had something to do with that ring he saw on her finger. Ron grinned and headed towards the kitchen where he found Harry doing simple magic tricks for Ironheart's grandson, Nicolai, and little Charlie. Both boys were dressed in pyjamas. "Having a sleepover?"

Harry paled. "Err n-no, w-what makes you say that? I swear, Ron…I—"

"He's not talking about you and Ginny," Mary said, with a glint of pure mischief in her eyes.

Ron frowned. Why would he have been talking about Harry and Ginny? He looked at Harry, who was glaring at Mary.

The girl wasn't very impressed, and gave him a perfect copy of Matt Kelly's insolent grin. "That was for threatening to give me blue ears!"

He glanced at Harry again, who was now nervously looking his way. A slow smile spread over his face. "So…I take you this means you've given Mum reason to hex you. Ginny wouldn't pass the unicorn test now, would she?"

Harry looked at the tabletop. "You mean, _you_ don't mind?"

Ron shrugged, reached over and slapped him on the back… hard. "I'll live. Of course, if you ever break Ginny's heart, you won't."

"So, you don't mind?"

"Why would I? Anyway, I'm not so sure how Mum will take it. You might want to send her a fancy handbag.

"H-Handbag?"

"Her latest obsession." Ron nodded. "And you also might want to grant her the honour of co-ordinating your wedding. I bet that would get you off the hook."

Harry frowned. "I don't think Ginny would like that very much. I think she'd want to arrange things herself."

"I know that. But if you ask Mum, she'll let you off the hook, and it'll be Ginny's problem from then on. Although…nah, forget I said that. They'll fight, and _you'll be right in the middle. Bad idea!"_

"My thoughts exactly!" Harry agreed.

"What's the big emergency?" Gudrun asked, as she came into the kitchen, followed closely by Ginny.

Ron briefly thought about how he was going to phrase this. "Oh, we just have to test your emergency Portkey," Ron said.

Gudrun narrowed her eyes. "So that's all. All right…I've got it in my room." She turned to her daughter and her two guests. "Be good. Listen to the grownups."

"We'll look after them." Ginny promised.

"Thank you, Ginny," Gudrun said gratefully, before she led Ron to her room and retrieved her Portkey. She tapped it with her wand, and it grew into a hoop. Ron grabbed on, and Gudrun muttered the activation words.

"What's the emergency?" she asked immediately after they appeared inside the Citadel's maintenance bay.

"I'm not sure," Ron said honestly. "We'll find out when we reach the medical wing. I suspect it has something to do with Matt."

"What makes you say that?" Gudrun asked worriedly, as she quickened her pace.

"Hermione still wasn't home when I came home, so I called the Citadel to see if she were there. I talked to Noelani Winters, who said she couldn't talk about it. When I said I was coming over, she said that it would be a good idea for you to come too. That's why I assumed it was about Matt. And you were expecting Matt tonight, right?"

"He didn't show up," Gudrun whimpered. "Damn, I knew I should have called to see what was keeping him. But then I heard he got held back by Commander Nomvete."  

The continued to hurry along, and soon the reached the medical wing. Not knowing where to go, he headed to Captain Sharif's office and found the bald wizard holding his shiny bald head between his hands.

"Captain?" Gudrun called.

The wizard slowly raised his head. "Matt has been calling for you and your daughter in his sleep. We gave him a mild sedative to help keep him calm. I'm glad you're here. Maybe you can ease his distress."

"What happened?" Ron asked.

"Matt's parents have been murdered by a zombie… Nathan's body."

**Author's Note**: Sorry, folks. No answers to reviews this time. Not to worry, It'll remain an esception. I'll answer next time.


	17. Too Many Coincidences

****

Too Many Coincidences

Chapter 17

No wonder Commander Nomvete had been so stressed out lately. She'd been keeping the secret of the Kellys' deaths for days, and it had been gnawing at her all that time.

When Mr Kelly hadn't shown up to run his corporate empire after two weeks, some of his people had gone looking for him at his wife's estate, barely getting away with their lives. The British Ministry of Magic had been informed, and Aurors had subdued the zombies with great difficulty. Then they'd called in the Order of Illumination.

Commander Nomvete had ordered the temporary Obliviation of both the witches who had discovered the zombies, as well as all Ministry wizards who had been involved. She had wanted to keep it a secret until she told Matt about it, and she'd kept it from Matt for so long because she didn't feel like telling him anything when she wouldn't have any answers to the questions Matt might have asked. The memories of the Ministry wizards had been restored a few days ago. Now the news was slowly filtering into Concordia.

Hermione, who had also worked hard to give Commander Nomvete some of her answers, was mystified by the complexity of the potion that had transformed Nathan into an exceptionally strong type of zombie over the course of two weeks. The diagnostic spells Serafina and Evgenia had used hadn't yielded any information about this potion, because it worked much like some kind of virus. At the time the spell had been performed, it had been undetectable.

Tests performed on animal cadavers using samples taken from the zombie yielded no results, and thus it was concluded that the potion was a highly sophisticated, species-specific concoction. The human cadavers Captain Sharif had used had then revealed that the potion infested and assimilated necrotic flesh and spread through the body, slowly at first, but at exponentially increasing speeds later on. It also effectively preserved the dead flesh, sparing the dead body from decay. He had concluded the Nathan's zombie must have broken out of the Archidiaconus' family crypt a few days after being put there, and killed the Kellys and three servants, turning them into zombies as well.

Captain Sharif was also pretty sure that the potion would kill living victims and turn them into zombies, even though he hadn't tested living subjects, for obvious reasons. Phoenix tears seemed to neutralise the potion, but since they were so hard to come by, the Medical Rangers were working overtime to come up with a counteragent. Several specialists around the world were trying to accomplish the same task, and all seemed to be having as little luck as the Rangers. Yamato had really outdone himself this time.

"How is he doing?" Harry asked softly, peeking into the parlour of the townhouse, while he hung up his cloak. It had been five days since they had found out about the Kellys, and unlike Hermione, who had been very busy with Sharif's project, he had visited Matt whenever he'd had some time off. Today, Lieutenant Cliff had come with him.

"Not too badly, under the circumstances. If my mum and dad were murdered like that, I'm not sure I'd take it as well as he seems to."

"I can't even begin to imagine what it feels like," Harry said, much to Hermione's surprise. Noticing her expression, he explained, "While the Dementors refreshed the memory of my parents' murder, it isn't the same as Matt's situation. My memories resurfaced years after their deaths, and I was too young to fully experience the ramifications. It was different with Hagrid, Professor Dumbledore, and Sirius. I nearly lost my mind when Sirius was killed. Maybe it hurts even more if it's a blood relative…I guess I was spared from such anguish."

"Not necessarily," Lieutenant Cliff said, "I know this is a horrible thing to suggest, but you wouldn't be too distraught if something happened to _your_ blood relatives, right?"

"Point taken." Harry grinned ruefully.

"Ergo, blood relation isn't synonymous to family. Blood isn't always thicker than water." Hermione nodded in agreement with Lieutenant Cliff.

She sighed and glanced at Matt and Gudrun. Matt reclined on the couch with his head in Gudrun's lap. She caressed his face slowly, so as not to disturb his sleep. It was obvious to everyone but Matt how she felt about him.

When Matt was awake, Gudrun would be very attentive and caring. But when he was asleep, it went from attentive to tender, and from caring to loving. Gudrun no longer cared who saw her stealing kisses from Matt in his sleep. Yet for some reason, she was terrified that Matt would find out about the depth of her feelings. "He's really come to depend on Gudrun, though. He can't fall asleep if she's not holding him. We've considered giving him Dreamless Sleep Potion, but if we can avoid addicting him to any tranquilliser, so much the better."

"Looks like he's addicted to Gudrun instead," Harry said with a sad smile, peeking into the lobby again.

"I would never had guessed that _she_ of all people would comfort him like that," Hermione muttered, eyeing the couple pensively.

"It's hardly surprising." Lieutenant Cliff smiled.

"Really?"

The Jamaican witch nodded. "They're Twin Flames!"

"Matt and Gudrun?" Hermione asked sceptically.

"I have enough faith in my abilities to trust my interpretation of my cards. They have met before, and they've searched for each other ever since. Now they've found each other."

"Not those two," Hermione said resolutely. "They're too alike. They're both Gemini…if you believe in that sort of thing."

"Twin Flames are halves of the same soul, Hermione. They are the same yet different, opposing yet complimenting. And zodiac signs only can only illustrate a potential couple's compatibility if worked out completely. The compatibility of signs, which on the surface would be a bad match, may change if all the variables at the times of birth are considered. I was curious, and I sent the relevant data about the two of them to an old school friend who uses her gift for match making. She also came to the conclusion that Matt and Gudrun are very likely Twin Flames.

"That doesn't mean that a relationship between them would necessarily be a happy one. Even once they've found each other, Twin Flames can hurt each other as much as they can complete each other. It can always go both ways, like relationships between normal couples. Matthias and I aren't Twin Flames, but we're very happy together. You and Ron aren't Twin Flames either, but you still love each other, despite your different natures. You and Ron, like Matthias and I, _are_ Soul Mates, though."

"Aren't they the same thing?" Harry frowned.

Lieutenant Cliff shook her head. "They're often confused with one another, but they're not the same. First and foremost, you only have one Twin Flame, while you have several Soul Mates. Secondly, your Twin Flame is always of the opposite gender, while Soul Mates are both male and female. Thirdly, while your Twin Flame may hurt you, it _never _harbours evil intentions. Soul Mates are both friends and enemies. Whereas you seem to connect with a friendly Soul Mate, you often have an instant dislike, even revulsion, of the hostile Soul Mate."

"Bloody hell, Lieutenant. You're implying that Malfoy is my Soul Mate."

Cliff grinned. "The name Soul Mate may not be entirely appropriate, since 'mate' implies a positive relationship. Perhaps Soul Foe is a better word. Seriously, though, he may very well be, and Voldemort as well. Without darkness, the light can't be seen, after all."

"Where have I heard that before?" Harry smirked. "So basically, in a sense, Twin Flames actually _are_ Soul Mates, just a more powerful and specialized version…and they're never enemies."

"If a Soul Mate were a torch, a Twin Flame would be a bonfire." Cliff nodded.

Hermione smiled. She found the fiery metaphor somehow very appropriate.

"And, only Twin Flames are lovers?" Harry asked again.

"Heavens, no! Soul Mates _can_ be our lovers and spouses. But they can also be parents, siblings, teachers, students, friends and family. And like I said earlier, they can be enemies, tormentors, and victims. Twin Flames don't necessarily have to be lovers either. Parent - child, and sibling relationships are also possibilities, as well as teacher - student relationships and friendships with no romance. But they're always of the opposite gender. When they are no longer on the same plane of existence, one Flame may serve as a Guardian Spirit…or so they say. Quite a few people don't believe in any of this."

"What about me and Ginny?" Harry asked quietly.

"You already know the answer to that, Harry," Cliff said, "I've never seen more obvious Twin Flames than the two of you. You actually manifest it through your magic."

Hermione smiled. That was indeed very obvious, much more obvious than the supposed connection between Matt and Gudrun. However, Matt's mum _had _said something about Gudrun resembling his past girlfriends. Maybe Lieutenant Cliff was right; maybe Matt had subconsciously been looking for Gudrun all this time.

"Maria?" Matt suddenly groaned. He was waking up from his slumber.

"She's still at school. She'll be home soon," Gudrun replied, helping him up. "You have visitors."

Matt's gaunt features suddenly jumped out, now that he was sitting up. He looked like he hadn't eaten anything in days. "Hi," he said with a gravely voice. "How are things going at the Citadel?"

Matt clearly wanted to avoid becoming the subject, and while Hermione could understand this, she wasn't about to let him starve himself to death out of sorrow. "You haven't been eating much, have you?"

"I'm not very hungry," Matt said tonelessly. "I've got a lot on my mind. The value of my dad's assets halved upon word of his death. My Aunt Zelda's husband is running things in his absence, but I don't trust that guy as far as I can throw him… Aunt Zelda has always been attracted to crooks. My dad and I weren't on the best of terms, but he's worked very hard to multiply grandfather's fortune twenty-fold, and I'm not about to let a lowlife undo his life's work. I can't take over dad's business empire, so I'll have to find a very talented and skilled manager before the competition carves up the market between them.

"The Caer Sidi Treasure is even more important. I'm pretty much the last of the line on my mother's side, partially owing to the fact that the Archidiaconus wizards never had many children…but mostly due to Voldemort. That's why my mum wasn't thrilled with my career choice. If both Nathan and I died, the fortune would go to a distant relative who had supported Voldemort.

"You see, my great-grandfather was the patriarch when Voldemort attacked. He had four children…quite remarkable, since he, his father and grandfather were only children. My great-uncle Curtis, who originally should have inherited the estate and fortune, was the eldest. My grandfather, who had been lured back to Wales by a treacherous relative, so he'd be killed with the rest of the family, was the youngest. Then there were two great-aunts, Teleri married into the Prewett family and Vala married into the Bones family. None of their offspring survived either. Some Bones got away, but no relatives of mine."

Hermione winced. She still found it hard to imagine how thorough Voldemort had been. "What about the treacherous relative? Is she the same person you want to keep the inheritance from?"

Mat nodded. "Before my great-grandfather, the last time the family tree branched off was," —Matt counted on his fingers— "seven generations ago…my great-grandfather's great-grandfather. He had an _older_ sister who believed that age should come before gender. Not completely unreasonable if you ask me…but I digress. I wouldn't go as far as to call her a dark witch, but she was definitely different from the rest. Throughout Hogwarts' existence, my ancestors on my mother's side had always been either Ravenclaws or Gryffindors. This lady, however, was sorted into Slytherin, and she ended up marrying a Malfoy."

"Malfoy!" Harry said through clenched teeth.

"From the debriefed prisoners we've captured in June, we know that Lucius Malfoy is dead. His son is still out there, though. And if I die, he will have access to the treasure vault. In fact, he already has it. It's a Consanguinity Charm…or Curse, depending on how you look at it. The most direct descendant through a paternal line, and the second most direct descendant, can deactivate the powerful magical wards that protect the treasure. My line turned maternal one generation ago, while Malfoy's turned maternal at least_seven_generations ago. But because Voldemort wiped out my closer relatives, it's just me and Draco Malfoy now…"

"Do you think he knows?" Harry asked.

"You know him better than I do," Matt said tiredly. "You tell me."

"Then he probably knows," Hermione said. "I've always wondered what Lucius' private agenda was while he supported Voldemort. Of course he looked down on Muggle-borns, but I always suspected he had to have more reasons. This is probably part of it. And I'm sure he'd have told Draco about it."

"But Draco is evil! Surely the wards will keep him out!" Harry exploded.

"The ancestors who came up with the charm must have disagreed with you," Matt said grimly. "It's all about blood, unfortunately, regardless of whether the heir has evil intentions."

"We're going to have to put up some additional wards, then."

"That'll help." Matt nodded. "I plan to go to Caer Sidi, load up all the things on a Cruiser and bring them here, where they'll be safe from Malfoy. To my knowledge there aren't any wards to prevent the transportation of the treasure once the vault has been opened. Then, I'll make a will, which stipulates that Malfoy no longer has any claim. But I was thinking about a longer-term solution which would also act as a failsafe in case we don't find all the treasure, or there _is _a ward that prevents the treasure from being moved. I'll have to have children."

"With whom? You're not seeing anyone!" Hermione frowned.

"I'm sure thousands of witches would volunteer if you'd place an advert in the papers, " Harry said. "You're a very good-looking fellow and you're one of the richest wizards in the world. There are lots of women out there who'd jump at the chance to be the mother of a child who is the heir of a fortune as huge as yours. But those women would be opportunists, and _I _wouldn't want my child to have half the genes of such a person."

"If you're going through with this anyway, it would be best if you'd keep the selection under wraps," Hermione suggested. "No need to make the woman a target for Malfoy. After all, I bet Anastasiou would love to get his clutches on your family treasure, and I'm sure he'd loan his assassins to Draco for the cause."

"That won't be a problem, I wouldn't want to have a child with a woman I barely know. I only have one person in mind. " He turned to Gudrun. "I know this is a bit sudden, but I can't think of anyone else. You've always been here for me lately, and you've been my best friend. Would you be the mother of my children?"

Gudrun's face turned a pale green. "Are you out of your mind?"

"Maybe I am…" Matt smiled briefly. "But I _know_ you. I know you're a bright, beautiful and caring woman."

"I couldn't even take care of my daughter!"

"You were what, twenty-one, when you got pregnant? So you were scared! You've been a great mother to her so far, even though she's been giving you a hard time. I know it's only been a few weeks, and naturally, you still have a few things to learn… But you're not as afraid of responsibility as you say you are."

"Suppose I agreed. I wouldn't be able to work in the last months of the pregnancy, and after that, any mother would want to spend as much time as possible with the baby! Not a day went by that I didn't regret my decision to leave Mary with my mother. So I'd have to leave the Order! And where would that leave the other artificers? The workload is already enormous."

"If a Ranger wants to have children, the Order won't stop her," Lieutenant Cliff said. "Though now isn't the best time, I'm sure Nehanda would work something out, since the birth of this baby would effectively take the Caer Sidi magical treasure out of Anastasiou's reach."

"Matt, you said children…not child," Gudrun groaned. "You'd want to have more than one?"

"I'd rather not take any chances. I realise it's easy for me to talk, since I won't have to carry the babies around for nine months and give birth. I know I'm asking a lot. If we take Malfoy out, one will be enough. If not, there would have to be more, since there's a good chance that I might die on a mission."

"If you're afraid to die, don't be a Ranger anymore."

"It isn't a matter of fear, Gudrun. I just have to keep an eye on reality. I can't quit the Order either! I know my mum wouldn't have expected me to quit over this."

"But how will I support Mary?"

"Gudrun, I have more gold that I could spend. I could easily provide for both of you!" Matt said, and Gudrun was beginning to look more and more like a cornered animal as Matt did his best to convince her.

"I-I can't intentionally have a child with you just like that. I'm not…I don't love you!"

Matt just stared at her in shock, what little colour his face had draining away quickly, and a painful silence ensued. "Well, I suppose that's a good reason," he began after a while, with the hint of a tremble in his voice. "What was I thinking anyway? I had no right to ask you to do something so drastic. It was a dumb idea, but that's to be expected from a dumb surfer-boy, right?" he continued with an unconvincing smile, trying to lighten the mood. "Anyway, you took the time to hear me out, that's more than I could've hoped for anyway. I've got to go. Thanks for being there for me these last few days…I won't burden you anymore!"

* * *

He slowly rose from the couch and, eyes downcast, he hurried out of the room. The front door slammed shut seconds later, leaving the others behind in stunned silence…until Hermione erupted.

"That was a lie, and you know it! How could you say that? Why didn't you just physically rip out his heart? You don't love him…hah! If that's so, then you've done a great job fooling us all! What on earth possessed you to tell him that?"

"I don't understand. What does he want from me? Why did he ask _me_? He's rich and handsome…why would he want an older woman with baggage? A woman who was stupid enough to get pregnant by a man she barely knew! I'm damaged goods. It just doesn't make sense." Gudrun shook her head in confusion.

"You're not damaged goods, Gudrun. He really cares about you, loves you even," Harry said calmly. "He went out of his way to protect you from harm. He defended you from those Bloodhounds, he shielded you from crashing into the wall at his own expense when the shock wave blew you away. He loves your daughter too. He bribed the headmaster so he wouldn't to expel Mary."

Hermione had heard about Mary's fight at school, and how the seemingly unswayable git of a headmaster had suddenly completely changed his attitude towards Mary. So _that_ was why he'd changed his mind.

"He really did that?" Gudrun gasped. "Why would he do that?"

"He told me that he couldn't let Mary be expelled for doing a good thing. He also said that Mary reminded him of himself a lot, and that he used to defend other kids who were often picked on, too. Anyway, the way Mary's been imitating him, I think he left the man with the impression that he's Mary's father…" Harry hesitated, before he continued, "I realise that having someone's child is a big deal, and I can't say I'm surprised that you refused. But you didn't have to say that you didn't love him, especially because it isn't true."

"But I don't really know him." Gudrun buried her face in her hands. "He doesn't know me! How can he just love me like that? It can't really be love! John told me that he loved me. He told me that he'd write me, and that he'd call. But my mother never heard anything."

"John?" Cliff asked, puzzled.

"Mary's father," Gudrun said quietly.

Hermione understood now. Matt had a reputation of losing interest, and Gudrun was afraid that he'd been lying and wasn't being serious, and that he'd take off as soon as he got what he wanted…like Mary's father seemed to have done. Lieutenant Cliff sat down next to Gudrun and threw her arm across the younger woman's shoulder.

"Sorry, I didn't know," Harry said, apologising for his jumping to conclusions. "I'm going to look for Matt, all right?" he added, and quickly fled from the room, leaving the women to themselves. Hermione had sensed his nervousness, and she knew he'd felt out of place at that particular time. Maybe it had been a good idea too, since Gudrun seemed more at ease now that Harry was no longer present.

"Gudrun, I know you and Mary can make Matt very happy, and he can make the two of you very happy too. I'd stake my life savings and reputation on the words I am about to utter. Matthew Kelly loves you, and he wouldn't leave you for anything in the world! But I have to ask. Would you mind telling me more about Mary's father?"

"Why?" Gudrun asked suspiciously.

"I believe it's time that you find this man, and tell him the truth. You should put these issues to rest. If he reacts too badly, we can always Obliviate him."

Gudrun rejected the plan immediately. "Definitely not. It's obvious that he didn't mean a word he said. Why should I bother looking for him?"

"Maybe he had a good reason," Hermione offered, but Gudrun still looked unconvinced.

"Why not find him first? Once we've located him, you can decide if you want confront him or not," Cliff suggested, and Hermione thought it was a good effort to compromise.

"All right, then," Gudrun said reluctantly. "How do you propose to we find him?"

"The old-fashioned way, I think. The quickest way would be to summon tracking spirits and have them find this man, but nine out of ten of these spirits are malignant, which is why the summoning is considered a dark art. Just tell me all you know about him and we'll track him down. Let's begin with his name."

"John Smith."

Cliff blinked. "Are you serious?"

"I said the same thing when he told me his name. I never saw an identification card, but everyone called him John. When I began to fall for him, I asked some more questions. I learned most of what I know when he took me to visit his former baby-sitter." Gudrun smiled. "Mostly embarrassing things about his childhood…about how she used to change his nappy and things like that. But I also heard some useful things. She confirmed my suspicion that he wasn't eighteen, although she didn't really tell me how old he really was. She didn't correct me when I guessed him to be sixteen, so I think that was his real age. And she told me a little about his family."

"That would certainly help."

"Well, he had an older brother, his mother was a chemist, and his dad did something with pharmaceuticals."

"Hmmm, that's all a bit vague, but it's better than nothing."

Gudrun shrugged. "I didn't really ask him to tell me his life story. At that point, I still thought it would be an innocent holiday fling. He was so young, I knew it couldn't be more than that. If I'd know how wrong I would be, I would have asked more questions, believe me!"

"And what did he look like?"

"Chestnut hair, blue eyes, he was about six-foot-two, rather gangly, I suspect he still had few inches of growth left. And he was very handsome too. Wait…I have a picture of him!"

"That would be loads of help," Hermione said. A picture was worth a thousand words, after all.

"Hold on!" Gudrun said, and she drew her wand. Her brows furrowed in concentration for a moment, before she summoned the picture from her room.

Hermione saw that the picture had been taken on a beach. It was slightly dark, and the red sky over the sea told her it had been taken in the twilight moments, without a flash. Still, the picture was clear enough, and Hermione had to agree with Gudrun. John had been a very good-looking boy. She immediately recognised some Mary's features in his features.

"Mary has his eyes and smile," Cliff remarked. "Do you know where he lives?"

"He lived near the north shore. He gave me the address too, so I could write him…but I never did. I know I have it somewhere in my room."

"I think I'll be able to find him easily enough with this information."

"Do you have the time to go look for him, Lieutenant?" Hermione frowned, knowing that the lieutenant couldn't just drop everything to go look for this mystery man.

"Not personally. But I know someone who would do me this favour. One of my former schoolmates lives on Maui. He's psychometrically gifted, and he works as a private detective. He owes me a few favours, and I think it's time to call one in. I'll pass the picture and the information on to him, and I'm sure he'll find John quickly enough. He's very good at what he does."

"You don't have to do that, Lieutenant," Gudrun insisted.

"Don't worry about it," Cliff said kindly, and looked at the picture again. "You know, he looks a little like Matt, doesn't he?"

Gudrun blushed and nodded. "Yeah. That only makes matters worse. You know, it once crossed my mind that they might be the same person in disguise when Matt told me that he used to surf too," she chuckled. "And they're about the same age. Of course, I was letting my imagination get the better of me."

A creaky sound announced the opening of the front door. Soft cursing identified the new arrival as Lilia.

Lieutenant Cliff patted Gudrun's hand and rose from the sofa. "I don't think their similarity is a coincidence. I'll send the picture back after I've made a copy." She glanced at her chrono. "If I'm late, Nehanda will give me hell. She's been really bad lately. I think she misses Ironheart," she added jokingly. "I'll see you girls later."

"Later, Lieutenant," Gudrun and Hermione chorused.

"Hey Lieutenant, that diet of yours seems to be working wonders!" Lilia said, as she passed Lieutenant Cliff in the doorway to the parlour. "What's your secret?"

"I don't sneak out of bed for midnight snacks, like my hubby. He won't cut back on the lager either." Cliff sounded peeved, but her tone didn't mirror her indulgent expression. "Oh, well, nobody is perfect. Later!" The door slammed shut.

"Gudrun…you look like hell!" Lilia frowned as she plopped down next to the Icelandic witch. "Did you get the bad news you've been expecting about your mother?"

Gudrun shook her head. "Mum's condition seems stable, for the moment. It's Matt…he asked me if I wanted to have children with him."

Lilia's eyes nearly burst out of their sockets. "And what did you say?"

"I said no…what else!" Gudrun answered miserably. "Don't look so shocked. I couldn't possibly consent to such a thing. Men…they tend to forget how real life works!"

"Are you kidding? I'd have dragged him up to my room immediately!"

"Honestly, Lilia," Hermione huffed. "You know it isn't as easy as that! Especially because Matt reminded Gudrun of Mary's father so much!"

"Aha, I thought so too." Lilia nodded. "Finally showed them the picture, eh?"

"Yes. I let Lieutenant Cliff borrow it. We're going to look for John."

"Gudrun, I'm home!" Mary's voice rang, and the girl came rushing into the parlour immediately, still wearing her cloak. "Where's Matt?" she asked, looking around with a hint of disappointment.

"He went away," Gudrun said, quickly.

"Oh," Mary said. "But he'll be back soon, won't he?"

"Mary, you know that Matt doesn't have any close relatives on his mom's side, right?" Gudrun said, changing the topic.

Mary's face lit up. "You said yes? You're going to have a baby with him?"

Gudrun looked baffled. "He _told_ you?"

"Of course! He asked me if it would be okay with me! I think it's a wonderful idea. I've always wanted a brother or sister, and that way you and Matt can get married and he can be my daddy and we can be like a family."

While Mary looked deliriously happy, Gudrun looked like she was about to be sick. "Mary, having a baby isn't something you can take lightly. I like Matt very much, but I can't have his baby. I'm sorry."

"You don't like him, you love him!" Mary said sharply, scowling at her mother. "I can tell. And Matt loves you too! He told me so. Why can't you have his baby?"

"H-He said he l-loves me?" Gudrun stammered.

Her daughter nodded. "He got all mushy about it too! So, are you going to have a baby with him, or not?" the girl asked impatiently.

"I'll think about it." Gudrun sighed.

Mary's scowl lifted. "Excellent! I'm going to tell Nicolai that I'll have a little brother or sister next near! We're doing our homework together. I'll be home for dinner!"

"Hold on, I said I'd _think _about it," Gudrun called after her, but her words fell on deaf ears. "Ugh, I have no control over her whatsoever!"

"You're not being fair to her either. Or are you really considering having Matt's children?" Hermione asked. It was obvious to her how badly Mary wanted to have a 'traditional' family, with a mum, dad, little sibling and a pet. The fact that little Charlie had complained that all that Mary wanted to play was 'house,' with Nicolai as the daddy, and he and Crookshanks as the children, illustrated how deep the desire was. Hermione frowned, remembering how she'd found her traumatised cat with a bonnet wrapped around its head and wearing a makeshift diaper. She'd have to take up that issue with Gudrun at a better time.

"I've never really cared about any man before John. And when it became clear that he hadn't been serious about keeping in touch, I swore to myself never to let another get close. But I've grown so attached to Matt in so little time…it's scary. I don't want this…I don't want to get too attached, because I wouldn't be able to stand it if he left me too."

"If you think you two could have a future together, tell him you just need a little more time to make up your mind, because everything moved a little too fast."

"That's the problem! There's a reason why he needs to have children, and _fast_."

"What's that?" Lilia asked, but a whistling sound interrupted Gudrun answer. She dug around in her pocket and extracted a small magic mirror. Hermione could read the message on its surface. Commander Ironheart was back!

* * *

nycgal: I do my best to include the girls as much as possible.

Zaz: Sorry for the long update gap. I _did _update on the 5th, but my vacation left me with writer's block.

: Sorry for the long update gap. I update on the 5th, but my vacation left me with writer's block.

Casual Reader: Unfortunately that isn't information I can divulge.

Fin-Phoenix: "I'll do my best. The next chapter ought to be a shocker.

The Millennium One: Interesting speculations.

Gogirl: E-mail me! There is something you need to know in advance. And I hope this chapter answered the question you asked in your review of chappie 16.

Jemima Blue: F.A.A.? LOL!

Lioness-07863: Ah, ahem, you ask too many plot-revealing questions. Don't be offended by my stoic silence. Besides, this chapter ought to have answered your question. ;-)

Maab: Harry won't go insane? Are you sure? cackles evilly And poor Matt indeed. Poor guy doesn't seem to get a break, does he?

Lamina Court: No, Nicolai won't get any lines for now. :-) And did this chappie help you digest the occurrences in the previous one?

Lana Riddle: Thanks, I found the vacation very relaxing.

rowan: Sorry about the long wait.

Petals: I', not sure you'll like it when Wolfe makes an appearance. And in my notes, Galatea has four sisters. Her siblings will be mentioned in the next chapter.

starwest45: Well, I thought Ginny's answer was pretty definite. And how so do you think that Matt is Mary's father?

Siridragon: I've written, I posted.

bane: Yeah, you'll learn about Wolfe's fate pretty soon.

Philip: More like a combo of several droids of several sci-fi / fantasy universes.

Foxfur: I dunno, your answer was pretty good too. And I can't tell you whether or not Wolfe will ever see Galatea again.

Punkin: Four reviews! Makes me want to cry. If it weren't for you, I'd have received a pathetic 13 reviews. Now I have 17. Not something to whine about, I know, but my average is 22, and my ego-minimum is 20. So my ego's just been bruised. cries


	18. Consanguinity

****

Consanguinity

Chapter 18

"Hold on!" Ron yelled groggily, as he stumbled downstairs. He was ready to give whoever had been stupid enough to wake him a really bad time. The graveyard shift was definitely not fun, and he really needed his beauty sleep.

As he peeked through the window, however, he saw that it was a very worried-looking Harry and his irritation abated somewhat. He opened the door and ushered Harry in. "Bloody hell, I was having an excellent dream, so this had better be good."

"It is! Get dressed, I'll fill you in on the way."

"On the way where?"

Harry frowned, then grinned sheepishly. "Actually, I don't know. Just get dressed, will you?"

Ron nodded and got dressed in a hurry, throwing on his uniform and pulling extra warm socks over his feet before he put on his boots. If there was one thing he hated, it was cold feet, something he had in common with his sister. It was freezing outside, uncommon in Concordia, but not outside the realm of possibility.

"So what's all this fuss about?"

"I need to find Matt. He was very upset earlier, and he left the townhouse without even putting on his cloak."

"Why didn't you call the Citadel? They'd be able to locate him quickly."

"I wanted to be discreet!" Harry said delicately. "Do you know where he could've gone?"

Ron took a deep breath and let it go slowly. He'd have to place himself in Matt's shoes first. "How upset was he, and why?"

"Near tears…woman trouble."

Ron raised an eyebrow. "Miss Iceland?"

"Good guess." Harry nodded. 

"Not really. I just don't know any other woman he feels that way about. All right, did you check The Barrel?"

"Yeah, and I sort of looked around after that, at the Quidditch Pitches, but I ran out of ideas, so I came to get you."

Ron thought about it. The place Harry had mentioned was the place Harry would go get his mind off things. But Matt was a different person, so different rules applied in that situation. He would go to a crowded place, where he'd just get lost in the crowd. 

Matt had once taken him to The Drunken Ogre, allegedly to give him a final taste freedom before Hermione turned him into someone who was…what was that word Matt had used…_whipped_. It was a tavern on the first level with rather rough patrons, just like Hog's Head in Hogsmeade. "If I know him as well as I think I do, I think I know where he might have gone if he wanted some anonymity. If that doesn't work, there's always a Detection Charm we could use."

"We'd need a personal item of his," Harry pointed out.

"Piece of cake. We'll just head up to the townhouse and get his cloak. Nothing carries a man's aura better than his cloak—" Noticing Harry's odd smile, he asked, "What?"

"It still surprises me how good you've become at this kind of thing."

"I'm glad I have." Ron shrugged indifferently, but felt pleased nonetheless. "If I hadn't, I wouldn't have had any added value for the Order, would I? Portal or scenic route?"

"Portal!" Harry said quickly, pulling his cloak around him tighter.

After looking for the appropriate route to the portal closest to the tavern, they portal-hopped and made their way to The Drunken Ogre. Ron glanced at Harry, who pulled a face at the sight of the tavern. It looked even shabbier than The Barrel, and unlike The Barrel, which had a very neat interior, The Drunken Ogre was as bad on the inside as it was on the outside 

Purplish fumes drifted out to meet them as Harry pushed the door open, and the patrons glared at the two arrivals who were obviously out of place.

Harry's response was to run his fingers through his hair, mimicking a casual gesture but sending a clear message to the patrons. It worked, because many of the beady eyes beheld the lightning-shaped scar on his forehead and sent them huddling over their drinks again. Harry's action hadn't been the best way to keep a low profile. Word would get around that they'd been there, and Hermione would probably ask questions…Ron groaned inwardly as that thought crossed his mind. He really _was_ whipped.

Matt obviously wasn't sitting at the bar, so Ron let his gaze sweep over the many shadowy booths deeper in the tavern. One in particular got his attention. Three serving wenches were clustered around the single patron, staring at him with expressions that suggested they were highly taken with the fellow. The golden hair that shrouded his face gave away his identity. 

Harry had noticed it as well, and took the lead as they moved towards the booth. "Sorry we're late. Ladies, if you don't mind?"

The women reluctantly got up and made their way back to the bar, where the glaring barman was waiting for them. Ron guessed they hadn't received permission to keep Matt company.

"What're you doin' 'ere?" Matt slurred.

Harry picked up one of the four empty mugs in front Matt and brought it to his nose. He grimaced after taking a sniff. "Spiced Goblin Ale."

Ron groaned. Humans weren't biologically equipped to handle even _one _of these drinks. It was a miracle that Matt was still conscious after _four_. As it was, they'd have to get some of the stuff out of his system before it killed him. 

"C'mon, let's get him to your place!" Harry said. "We'd best make him puke it up out in the alley first." know enough about detoxification spells to get the rest out of his system."

They took Matt outside and forced the near-poisonous drink out of his stomach with a really handy regurgitation charm. Ron wrapped his cloak around Matt and pulled the hood over his head. No need for others to see the state Matt was in. Then he placed a warming charm on himself and he and Harry frog-marched Matt to the closest portal and took him to Ron's house. 

Ten minutes later, they were gathered in Ron's kitchen. Matt was shivering under the blanket they'd wrapped around him. Ron muttered the security enchantment, and nodded the all clear after a brief flash of light. 

"So, would you care to tell us why you drank so much Goblin Ale?" Harry asked, the concern pouring out in his tone and expression. Ron shared his concern, because they both knew that drinking so much Goblin Ale was as good as suicide by poisoning.

"I've done it before. Stop fussing about it," Matt said tonelessly.

"I know things are looking bleak at the moment," Harry began.

"Bleak…_bleak_?" Matt snorted. "My whole family has been murdered, and the only woman I could see myself having a future with told me I was imagining things." He shook his head. "I wasn't trying to kill myself, if that's what you were thinking. I've failed everyone in so many ways already, I'm not about to add to it by just handing the family treasure to Malfoy."

"You drank _four_ pints of Goblin Ale, and you're saying you weren't trying to kill yourself?"

Matt's jaw went slack. "Four?"

Harry nodded.

"I had no idea I'd drunk that much. I guess I owe you," Matt grumbled.

Ron still didn't know exactly what had happened earlier. But he reckoned it must have been pretty bad for Matt to try and drink himself to death. "I know you'd rather not, but you have to talk about this."

"What's there to talk about? My family is dead—" Matt swallowed and wiped away the tears that had begun to roll down his face— "You don't understand. It's over! She doesn't love me. I'd give up everything I own if she'd just love me in return."

"I've been down this road before," Harry said warily, looking much older than his twenty-one years all of a sudden. "People say and do crazy things sometimes. I know it hurts, but you shouldn't lose your wits…right away. She didn't mean it! Trust me, she loves you too. She's been there for you more than anyone else."

"Yeah, I thought so too. Turned out we were wrong, didn't we? I bet she did it because she felt guilty for dropping the phoenix tears." Matt sullenly looked at the floor and shook his head. "Why would she lie about something like that. Didn't you see the look on her face? She looked like she was going to be sick…the mere thought of carrying my child disgusted her."

"At times, especially when you're upset, your senses can deceive you," Ron said. "I wasn't there, but I can't imagine Gudrun reacting the way you've just described. I agree with Harry. Gudrun cares about you a lot. Maybe she's unsure of her feelings because it all went so fast, I don't know. But what's this about Malfoy getting your family treasure…and why on earth would Gudrun have to carry your child?" he asked, voicing the things that had been running through his mind ever since they were mentioned. He had to know exactly what was going on if he was to help anybody.

Matt nodded. "Okay. I'm not sure how familiar you are with my family history. It's sort of a long story."

"We've got nothing but time!" Ron said.

Matt took a moment to gather his thoughts before he began. "My family tree on my mum's side can be traced back thousands of years. I'm not going to bother you with the exact details on that. The first Archidiaconus was an alchemist who was very good at attuning of gemstones and metals for various magic purposes, although he focussed on healing."

Ron nodded. He'd learned this when he'd gone to the Caer Sidi museum with Hermione. The first Archidiaconus had been born in Antioch in the year 54 BC, about a decade after Rome had conquered it. He learned the secrets of advanced alchemy from the native Syrian wizards who still dwelt there. He married the youngest daughter of his mentor, whose family had allegedly gained the knowledge from the legendary Draconians.

"He and his wife journeyed to Britain, and arrived in 20 BC, just in time for the First _British_ Archidiaconus to be born. Technically, he should be called the First, but I'm not the one who researched the family tree… 

"So my British-born ancestor married a Celtic witch, who also happened to be a healer. Aside from healing, she also practised Blood Magic."

Of course, they had neglected to mention this at the museum, since Blood Magic, while not directly a dark art, was frequently connected with dark arts. People who used their own blood to power their spells were often seen as power-mad and untrustworthy. The reason Blood Magic was regarded as a means to dark arts, was because it was good way to avoid using one's wand while still infusing enough magical energy into one's spell.

The origin of Blood Magic stemmed from ancient times, when spells were difficult to cast because of their unrefined nature, and wands and other magical foci had not yet been invented. But as magic became more refined, the skills of blood mages became obsolete. Even early in the first century AD, the period in which Matt's ancestor practised Blood Magic, that type of magic had already been obsolete for four hundred years.

"My family quickly gained status among the local wizardry, and was already well established before the real Roman invasion brought over a wave of wizards. And as the centuries went by, my ancestors kept intermarrying with affluent families who could provide them with gemstones. They even intermarried with the Muggle noble houses of small Germanic kingdoms in the seventh century. Now everyone with a little knowledge of history knows how turbulent these states were, and how the Anglo-Saxon society was characterised by strong kinship groups and feuds. It was these feuds that made my ancestors take certain precautions, like the Consanguinity Charm. This Charm made sure that the eldest son, or in case there were no boys, child of the last heir, inherited the wealth and responsibility for the family treasure.

"Later, in the fifteenth century, after the Dane and Norman invasions, their precautions paid off. About a hundred years earlier, my direct ancestor and a younger brother married two sisters who were the only children of the Otherworld Gatekeeper. The younger brother married the elder sister and the elder brother married the younger sister. The elder brother and the youngest sister remained on the island as the new Gatekeepers, and Caer Sidi then became the location where the collection of magic gems and other priceless family heirlooms were kept.

"Then, in 1465, descendants of the elder sister, who believed they had more right to the Caer Sidi estate, attacked the island and did a lot of damage, sealing the Caer Sidi gate to Otherworld, or the Mirror Realm. But the Consanguinity Charm kept them out of the vault, and the family used the power of the treasure to subdue the invaders." Matt sighed. "Sorry, but I had to explain the reasoning behind the charm."

"That's all right." Ron smiled. "Go on."

"Okay, the Charm only works by reinforcing it every generation. When an Archidiaconus got married, the continuation ritual was performed on him and his wife, so that their children would be linked to the charm as well. This was done to prevent bastard children from causing trouble. Only the offspring of the _couple_, not individual, who underwent the continuation ritual would be linked."

"The plan wasn't waterproof though, was it? All the pretenders would have to do is kill off the family branches whose claim superseded their own," Ron pointed out.

"It nearly happened," Matt groaned. "Earlier you asked about the reason why Malfoy would get my family treasure. The answer to your question is that he also has Archidiaconus blood, and he's next in line. Only the heir and the next in line have access to the vault. And since Nathan and my mum are dead, I'm first and he's next. He can already get in."

Ron went numb with shock. "M-Malfoy is y-your c-cousin?"

Matt shook his head. "No…but my great-grandfather, his father _and_ grandfather were only children. That made my branch pretty thin already…" he explained, and went on to tell Ron how Voldemort had nearly wiped them all out, leaving the Malfoys with a much better chance of succession.

"So before you and Matt were born, they even had brief access to the vault!"

"Actually, no." Matt smiled. "My dad arranged for Damian Malfoy's abduction. _He_ was next in line after my mum. Not his son, Lucius. I don't know what my dad did with him after Voldemort was gone. For all we know, he could still be alive in the hole my father hid him in. That would mean that I've been panicking for nothing. But he's probably dead."

Ron took a moment to process the information. Now he knew what was going on. Matt had asked Gudrun to have children with him so he could keep Malfoy out of the Caer Sidi treasure vault. He cleared his throat to get Matt's attention. "You're not willing to consider having children with anyone else, then?"

"I haven't really thought about it," Matt said sadly. "I thought Gudrun felt the same way about me as I felt about her. I thought she'd say yes. I guess I'll have to find another person."

"I still think you should try and work it out with Gudrun," Harry said.

Suddenly, Ron was struck with an idea. It was risky and downright stupid, but as he ran the scenarios through his head, it seemed crazy enough to work. "You'll just have to make her aware of what she's missing."

Harry immediately caught on and began to protest. "The jealousy trap? You've got to be joking!"

"Harry…I'm desperate, Matt pleaded. He looked at Ron. "What do you have in mind?"

"We find someone who's willing to pretend that she's agreed to have Matt's children."

Harry shook his head vehemently. "Ron, I'm telling you, this can blow up in our faces. What if it drives Gudrun away even further?"

"It'll work fine! It worked for the girls when they used it to bring Wolfe and Galatea back together."

"That was different. Gudrun isn't Galatea. You can't possibly predict how she'll react. Anyway, who were you planning to use for this anyway? D'you think she'll just turn up on our doorstep?"

The doorbell rang as Ron was about to answer, and a familiar female voice called out Ron and Harry's names. It was Heidi.

"Jackpot!" Ron grinned.

*

"So there was a side benefit to Yamato's parting gift," Anastasiou mused. "You are next in line to inherit the Caer Sidi treasure now. Are you sure?"

"My family has always kept a close watch on all the births in the Archidiaconus family."

"Perhaps…but seven generations is a lot. Any children born out of wedlock…and their descendants would also supersede you. How can you be sure that your great-great-great grandmother's nephew, and his son and grandson, were indeed only children? Was it not common for such men to have a mistress or two?"

"That's the beauty of the charm," Draco said. "Any children born out of such a union would not be identified by the Family Charm. No doubt you've heard the stories of bastard half-siblings waging war on their recognised noble kin to get a piece of the family fortune. The Archidiaconus' refreshed their blood from time to time to avoid becoming a squib family, by intermarrying with these Muggle noble houses. Thus, they were often confronted with these power struggles, and to prevent that from ever happening to them, they invented this Bloodline Charm.

"The wedding ceremonies always entailed a ritual that would link the Archidiaconus to the wife…or husband. This linked the magic bond from one generation to the next, and it could only be done _once_, so only the children of these unions would become carriers of the charm.

"Besides, my ancestor cast a curse upon the family that decreased their fertility drastically. It was a miracle that her brother and his descendants managed to have one child each, anyway, before the curse wore off after three generations. I think they _must_ have resorted to dark magic, to make that possible."

"It sounds a bit like the curse that was cast on the Japanese Imperial family." Anastasiou frowned. "That was Blood Magic too."

Draco nodded impatiently. "Anyway, all the other Malfoy-Archidiaconus descendants lost faith in their chances of inheriting the treasure, so after a while they didn't bother with the ritual. Some even forgot they were related to the ancient Archidiaconus. But my father and his ancestors always performed the ritual, keeping their claim, however distant it had become.

"Then the Dark Lord came, and my father promised him half of the Archidiaconus treasure if he eradicated all the family branches whose claim superseded his," Draco finished. 

Anastasiou planted his elbows on his desk and brought his hands together. "So the charm barred illegitimate children from claiming the treasure…hmmm? Of course, that would have done nothing to prevent full-siblings or recognised relatives from trying to improve their chances of inheriting the treasure."

"True, but that individual would have to fight off the whole family. They weren't very fond of…_ambitious_... people, who would do anything to secure what they had a claim to, by birthright," Draco sneered.

Anastasiou leaned back into his chair and clasped his hands together. "So you can open the Caer Sidi vault?"

"We have to find it first…but yes!" Draco smirked.

Now, it was time to get to the point. He was a fugitive, and there was no way he'd safely be able to open the vault with all the Ministry people still running around. And given the fact that his only rival was a Ranger of Illumination, it was logical to assume that they had also taken a personal interest the protection of the Estate. He'd need some serious backing if he were to pull this off without too much danger to himself.

"I know why you've come to me, Mr Malfoy, and you were right to do so. Time is against us. All that Ranger has to do is marry and reproduce. He could also move the treasure away from Caer Sidi, into the Citadel of Illumination's vaults, where it would be out of reach. This leaves us with two options. Either we kill the Ranger, which will be difficult if he doesn't put himself in harm's way. It would be easier to stage a brief assault on Caer Sidi to relieve it of its treasure. And that's what you were thinking, wasn't it, Malfoy!"

"Your insight served you well. So, will you do it?"

"I want half of the total value of everything we find, _and _I want first pick."

"You need me more than I need you," Draco drawled. "I could risk getting into the castle on my own, but you can't get into the vault without me. Ten percent!"

"Twenty," Anastasiou said firmly.

"Fifteen."

"I'm not dropping below twenty," Anastasiou warned.

"I know you've heard about the fabled magical weapons!" Draco smirked. "You want that treasure badly. Fifteen! It'll be worth your while."

Anastasiou glowered, but relented. "Done. We'll work out the specifics after I get back from the Amazonian compound."

Draco blinked. He forgot all about that. Yamato had been trying to make a stronger parasitic personality…one that should be able to overcome the exceptionally strong mind of Maximilian Wolfe. "It's happening today? So soon?" 

"However insane he might be, Yamato's a miracle worker," Anastasiou said, as he rose from behind his desk and strode out of his chambers.

"Will the Mistress be there?" Draco asked, feeling queasy at the mere memory of the fascination She had displayed towards the Ranger. He had a feeling that he no longer had Her favour like he used to. In that respect, the Kellys' deaths had come at a critical time, giving him more weight in Anastasiou's organisation.

"She'll probably be there. In fact, if things go wrong, She might be the only one who can stop him."

Draco forced his worry to the back of his mind. He was still trying to figure out the significance of Wolfe's words. So he'd seen into Her soul, had he? And he thought She wasn't evil? It didn't make sense…

But come to think of it, it did raise some interesting questions. Why hadn't the Mistress shown any ambition whatsoever to prove Her desire to gain enough power to last Her a lifetime? Indeed, She seemed almost passive, and content with the status quo.

He shook his head. His worries could be unfounded. Maybe the Mistress had somehow used the Veela powers She'd absorbed, and charmed Wolfe into letting his guard down. That was also a possibility. But it didn't explain away that blush She had got when Wolfe had confronted Her. 

He ran the doomsday scenarios through his head as he quietly followed Anastasiou to the Portkey departure point. If the procedure somehow failed, the quickest way out of the base would be to take a left, and another left, walk along the wall on the right side of the long corridor that followed to avoid triggering the traps… Draco shook his head. It was simply too much information to memorise in so little time. He was glad he'd written some key words down to help him remember. 

They took a Portkey to the Amazon compound, where Paula Rheinhart was already waiting for them.

"Any news?" Anastasiou asked.

"Just some curious results of the blood analysis from the Ranger. As expected, we've found traces of Draconian blood. Not much compared to past Draconian descendants, but still an exceptional amount for this day and age."

"And the curious part?" 

"He also has some incubus blood. Greater incubus, to be precise."

Draco mulled over the information. Greater Incubi shared some traits with female Selkies and Veela, in the sense that they could charm people of the opposite sex, unlike the Lesser Incubus subspecies, who merely ravaged women in their sleep.

"Well, that explains it. I've always suspected it after he managed to escape that time!" Anastasiou chuckled. "Remember, forty years ago, Paula?"

"What happened forty years ago?" Draco asked keenly, noticing the blush of embarrassment on Rheinhart's face.

"I captured Ironheart. However, I made the mistake of letting a witch guard him." He glanced at Rheinhart. "What did he promise you again, if you let him go? Oh yes, to divorce his wife and run away with you!"

Draco eyed the vampire overlord curiously. If a Death Eater had let a prisoner escape like that, Voldemort would have had him killed immediately. But that had been one of his major flaws. At critical times, he blamed his own error in judgement on others. And when he did acknowledge that it was his own mistake, he still vented his frustration on his underlings. Draco knew that wasn't the way to go, and vowed to keep that in mind during his own inevitable ascension to power.

They arrived at the dungeon where Wolfe was kept, and Draco was forced to admit inwardly that the necromancer certainly seemed to know what he was doing. The whole dungeon had been designed as a death trap as much as a holding area. He was sure that quite a few of those gaps in the wall held some very nasty surprises.

"You're just in time," Yamato called from behind a large console. "I was about to start without you. Here we go…get drone number twelve to place the parasite container behind the subject…"

Draco looked on as a very simple golem, designed for manual labour, brought a container with a swirling smoky essence bottled up inside. This one looked slightly different from the others he'd used. It seemed darker, with a noxious greenish aura. It had to be the new and improved parasitic personality.

"Send in drone number seven with the broadcaster…stop nine feet in front of the subject." He touched a few runes on the console, which lit up after he touched them. "Mr Wolfe…I know you can hear me."

Draco looked into the dungeon and saw Wolfe stir. Slowly, the Ranger's head came up, and he stared at the golem defiantly.

"I know you'll never give in. As a matter of fact, I expect you not to give in. It will be most interesting to see how much you can take before you finally snap," Yamato continued gleefully. "Oh, before I forget, our spy has seen news about your girlfriend. If she remains in good health, however, is entirely up to you."

Wolfe glowered, but seemed unimpressed with Yamato's words.

"Ah, you don't believe me! You think she's too well protected in Concordia? Perhaps you're right. But her family isn't that well protected, am I correct? Her younger sisters, Calypso and Thetis, attend the girls' school, Southern Cross, don't they? And her other sister, Perse, just finished school, and is now working. And then there's young Jason, who is quite the Quidditch player, according to our sources."

Draco knew what Yamato was trying to do. He was attempting to convince Wolfe that he had the means and knowledge to harm these people.

"And then there is Tiresias…the blind prophet who attends Ogygia," Yamato said smugly. "They'll all be going home for Christmas…I wonder how your girl will react when we send her his useless eyes in a jar? How would she react if she found out that her family is no more?" —Yamato pressed another rune, and drone twelve released the smoky essence out of its container— "I hear such stress can cause women to miscarry! Think that will happen? Will her body eject your spawn prematurely? I wonder? Is she far enough along for the child to have a chance of survival?" 

The look of dismay that appeared on Wolfe's face told Draco that Yamato had scored a hit, and less than a heartbeat later, the smoky essence rounded Wolfe's head and forced its way into his nose! The Ranger went rigid, before he slumped unconsciously in his shackles.

"Now what?" Von Brandenburg asked.

"We wait," Yamato said simply. 

And so they did for about fifty tense minutes, before Wolfe began moving again. He opened his eyes and looked up at the chamber where they were standing. An eerie light briefly glowed in his eyes.

"The parasite has possession!" Yamato crowed triumphantly. "Wolfe may yet struggle for a while, but the parasite cannot be removed."

Draco glanced at the Mistress, who looked surprisingly cool about the proceedings. Why wasn't She pleased?

"Malfoy!" Anastasiou barked. "Time to work on the details of the plan."

Draco forgot about the Mistress's odd behaviour, as the prospect of possessing the riches of Caer Sidi loomed closer. The Rangers had taken away the small fortune he'd worked so hard to acquire by freezing his account in Petra. Now, he'd be taking something from a Ranger!

*

"I don't know," Heidi said doubtfully as she considered Ron's plan. "Gudrun might hex me."

"Galatea didn't hex you," Matt pointed out, desperate to get the show on the road.

"Galatea isn't Gudrun."

"She's got a point," Ron admitted grudgingly. Galatea was one of the nicest and gentlest souls in the world. Gudrun was another matter entirely.

Heidi bit her lip and looked at Matt uncertainly. "I also told her about us, so she might get really jealous if we drop this on her."

Matt's eyes widened. "You _told_ her?"

"Well, I had no idea this was going to happen. Besides, I told her months ago, before you two got close."

"What are you two talking about?" Harry frowned

Heidi blushed deeply, reminding Ron of his sister. Their resemblance was indeed — there was no other word for it — spooky. 

"I, ah, sort of knew Heidi already before we came to the Order…although I asked her not to tell anyone," Matt added, with a hint of irritation.

"If that's your attitude you can find someone else to play this little charade with you!" Heidi snapped, her face reddening as her anger rose. She definitely reminded Ron of Ginny.

"You two were involved?" Harry asked incredulously.

"I thought so," Heidi said coolly. "But that bastard never wrote back to me. How could you do that to me? I was twelve!"

"What the hell did you expect anyway? I was thirteen!" Matt countered. "Besides, I never promised to write to you…my dad did. I never make any promises I don't intend to keep. You just weren't my type, but my _dad_ was delighted. He wanted to set us up so he could do some political networking in Austria. I couldn't help it that he was an idiot who still lived in the dark ages."

"Hold on!" Ron jumped in to defuse the argument. "Where did you two meet?"

"At a wedding in Switzerland, during the Christmas holiday," Matt said. "A cousin of mine…on my dad's side, was marrying a relative of hers…" He turned to Heidi. "Really, pashing it out in a ski storage shack can hardly be called a relationship! You shouldn't have let it go to your head!"

"You were my first kiss!" Heidi said shrilly. "How else would a lovestruck twelve-year-old react?"

"I didn't know that," Matt said apologetically.

Heidi shrugged. "It's all in the past. Let it be."

Harry stared from Matt to Heidi, and back. He shook his head. "Life is just full of surprises."

"And I don't want to get a nasty surprise from Gudrun," Heidi said. "You guys have to protect me in case she vents her inevitable anger on me."

Harry blushed. "It'll have to be Ron and Matt. Sorry, but if I stand up for you, Ginny might give me a hard time."

"I can't defend you either," Matt said helplessly. "It might make Gudrun think that I have feelings for you, and I'll lose her for good."

"Nice to know you're so concerned with my well-being," Heidi huffed. "And I can't believe Ginny still sees me as a threat, Harry. Doesn't she know she has you already?"

"Maybe she's changed her mind since, err, you know…" Harry blushed. "But I don't want to risk damaging our relationship." 

Ron knew his sister was hard to fathom when it came to her insecurities about Heidi. Harry was right to be cautious. "I think Hermione might actually see through this charade." He frowned. "We'll have to involve Ginny and Hermione. They'll appreciate having been included, and _they_ can stop Gudrun from hexing you better than we can. Problems solved."

"I'll go tell Ginny," Harry said, rising from the chair and summoning his cloak without his wand.

"Show-off." Ron grinned.

"Damn, I don't have my cloak," Matt said.

"You can borrow one of mine," Ron said.

Heidi patted a bag she'd been carrying. "No need. I brought your cloak from the townhouse." She pulled out the cloak and handed it to Matt, while Harry walked towards the door. 

"I'll go on ahead and fill Ginny and Hermione in."

"All right, we'll meet you there." Ron nodded.

"Heidi, why did you come here anyway?" Matt asked suddenly.

"To check on you," Heidi said earnestly. "Lieutenant Cliff told me how you reacted to Gudrun's answer, and I had some time on my hands, so I asked C&C to locate you. I came to see if you were all right. Oh…and guess what, Commander Ironheart is back! He wants to talk to you… nothing urgent. I think he just wants to extend his personal condolences. He asked me to tell you as I was leaving to find you anyway."

"Ah." Matt nodded for a moment, and looked at Heidi uncertainly. "Heidi…if we're all wrong about Gudrun, and she really doesn't love me…" Matt took a deep breath and seemed to gather his resolve. "Would you, err…"

Ron's eyes widened. It was a good thing that Gudrun wasn't there to see this.

Heidi gently touched his cheek. "Oh, Matt! I'm honoured that you think me good enough to have your child. But I think you'll always love Gudrun, and I'd always be second place if I agreed to this." She sighed. "I learned the hard way, that some people are just meant to be, and that nothing can come between them…no matter how much you'd want to."

*

"Poor Heidi," Hermione chuckled. "Always a pawn in someone's scheme to bring a couple back together…always playing the interloper."

Harry had told them about Ron's plan to give Gudrun and Matt a nudge in the right direction. The major flaw Hermione saw in the plan was that Gudrun could jump both ways, whereas with Galatea, they'd been fairly certain that she'd make amends with Max. 

So she'd suggested a slight adjustment to the plan. Heidi and Matt would go to Gudrun and tell her that he'd asked Heidi to have his children, but that she wouldn't agree unless it was okay with Gudrun. They'd give her a couple of days to think about it, if she wasn't sure. 

It would improve the situation in two ways. Heidi would look less like the interloper, and Gudrun wouldn't be driven into the proverbial corner even further. She'd have a chance to reassess her thoughts and fears before changing her mind. Hermione could only hope that Gudrun would come around in a few days' time. 

The plan still wasn't fireproof, though. Gudrun could still interpret it in the sense of having been replaced. Hermione knew that she and Ginny would have to subtly talk Gudrun into changing her outlook, if that were to happen. She shuddered, unable to suppress the feeling that maybe they shouldn't be meddling in this at all. 

"I'm just glad you told me in advance," Ginny said, throwing her arms around Harry and kissing him lightly on the lips. "We should do everything together…even scheme!" she added with a smile.

"I'm glad too. Ron's scheming leaves a lot to be desired. He needs to learn to double-check things too," Hermione added, tugging at parts of the brassiere through her shirt as discreetly as possible. It was the fancy one she'd been unable to pick up herself due to her unexpected double shift. He must have left as soon as the shop-attendant had handed him the lingerie, without checking if it was the right size. Granted, it wasn't like he could have tried it on to see if it was the right size…

"Too small, eh?" Ginny smirked. "I told you not to entrust Ronniekins with such a task. You should've sent Crookshanks instead." 

"That's my fiancé you're insulting!" Hermione mock-growled. Then she heaved a sigh. She had planned to surprise Ron after visiting Matt. 

But lately, things never went according to plan. She thought she'd taken her temperature properly a few weeks ago, but it looked like she'd made a mistake, because the Big O had eluded her yet again. It was ridiculous, really. Her cycles varied from fourteen to forty days. She had to find a way to regulate her cycle. Maybe it would work with the help of the appropriate healing gems. 

Captain Sharif had already recommended a few fertility specialists in the city. Magic had deprived her of much of her fertility. She'd been reluctant to use magic to help her, afraid that any conception with the aid of magic would influence the child. But now she was ready to try anything.

"There's Heidi and Matt," Ginny said, pointing towards a parked Cruiser on the far side of the bay. Ron was with them too, and they were quickly coming over, glancing anxiously at the Cruiser she'd just passed. Gudrun's legs could be seen, dangling out of an open hatch as she worked on some inner components.

"There's been a slight change in the plan," Harry said.

"Find kinks in the plan, did you?" Ron laughed nervously.

"I just adapted it to lessen Heidi's risk. They'll _both_ ask Gudrun," Hermione explained. "But you have to be very careful about how you're going to phrase—"

"Potter!" a voice rang over the sounds of the maintenance bay. Commander Ironheart was taking large steps as he crossed the maintenance bay. He was looking very grave indeed. "I need to see you in my office. There's something we need to discuss."

"Hey…stop!" someone screamed. They all turned to look at the source of commotion. Khan was chasing a young, barefoot woman wearing a simple green dress woven of a crude material. Her coal black eyes shone with happiness and her unruly black mane swayed back and forth as she darted across the bay.

"Sorry sir, there was no stopping her…she's as strong as a troll!" Khan said apologetically, as he gave up the chase.

The girl came to a sliding halt a few feet in front of Harry and looked at him nervously and longingly, like a happy puppy wanting to tackle its master.

Harry's expression was an odd mix of happiness and distress. He was deathly pale and gasped for air. "You…f-followed?"

The girl blushed fiercely. "I'm sorry…Daddy!"

***

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Gogirl: Okay, so you were right about everything. You were on to me at a very early stage. Denying was my only choice, though. I couldn't give away the story. That's why I wanted you to send me an email. So I could reply by sending you chapter 18 as a reward of sorts for being so observant.

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Author's Note: starwest45, Ginny1946, The Millennium One, Lamina Court, Casual Reader, Punkin, crazyfriendsfan; So you guys added up all the clues about Matt and Mary I've placed throughout the previous chapters, have you? Maybe you're right about that, Maybe you're not. Haven't I been a little too obvious, though? Have I ever been that obvious before? How do you know I didn't drop those hints to keep you busy and distracted, so I could drop _this _bomb on you instead? *evil cackle* 

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Foxfur: Thanks for the review. And what can I say about Matt…I guess he and Gudrun are in an emotional stare down, each waiting for the other to declare eternal love first.

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jadesfire: Thanks for the lovely review. I'm glad you enjoyed Existence after Life so much. I'll do my best to make Mind War just as good.

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LadySiri: No longer the dragon lady? ;-) I agree, if Matt and Gudrun ever got together they would make for an interesting family, wouldn't they?

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Petals: John Smith…might as well have been John Doe eh? And what did you think of Wolfe's appearance? *maniacal laughter*

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the.grey.lady: Don't worry about the other plot points. I'll be picking them up in the next chapter. Oh, but Matt's childhood may have been affluent, but that doesn't mean it had been easy.

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nycgal: As you can see, Galatea and Max will have some problems, to say the least.

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Bane: Thanks. I'm happy with the review count for this chapter. But not everyone reviews every chapter, so unless there's some sort of miracle, I'll probably get less for the next chapter.

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Jake: Unfortunately, coffee has no effect on my hangovers. The only way I can make a hangover go away is to drink more alcohol. Of course, I only do that if I need to be somewhere important the morning after. If one makes a habit out of doing this, the consequences are dire. After all, that's how alcoholics are made.

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bob: I might go further with the twin flames thing.

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jona: It would be rather tragic if Matt or Gudrun were to die, wouldn't it? And keep up your writing efforts.

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Sugar Quill: I can't believe you reviewed a second time. After I left a rather critical review of my own. I appreciate it.

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Meli: I never experienced the twin flame and soul mate-ish feelings. I just did some research on the net. I'm trying to step up the romance in the story a little, but only to serve the drama later on.


	19. Reality Unravelling

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Reality Unravelling

Chapter 19

She leapt forward and hugged Harry tightly, burying her face into his shoulder. Harry returned the hug slowly, unable to believe her presence. He looked at the crowd and cleared his throat. "This is Holly. I know this will sound strange, but she's my daughter. There's a perfectly good explanation for her age…"

"I couldn't detect any falsehood in her claims," Commander Ironheart said. "She shares some of your traits as well. Yes…she told me about the temporal vortexes in the Mirror Realm."

Harry looked at Ginny and swallowed nervously.

The look in her eyes chilled him to the bone. It was a mixture of shock, bewilderment and hurt…mostly hurt. The enormity of his words brought the realization crashing into his mind. Holly was his daughter, meaning there must have been _another _woman in his life, besides Heidi. A woman Harry hadn't told his friends about. 

"Ginny…I-I can explain."

"Why…didn't you tell me?" Ginny asked in a trembling voice.

"I didn't think it was relevant at the time. I mean, it wasn't something you needed to know—"

"Needed to know?" Ginny's shriek echoed through the maintenance bay. "She's your _daughter_. You had a child with another woman and you thought I didn't need to know?"

"Well, not right away…and she was supposed to stay with her mother in the Mirror Realm."

"Not right away? You mean not ever!" Ginny said sharply. "I saw the look on your face when you saw her! She's not supposed to be here, is she? You were never going to tell me about her, were you? How can I ever trust you again, Harry? You lied to _me_…you've _abandoned_ your daughter, and her mother—"

Harry felt like biting his tongue off for his previous sentence. It had only made things worse. "It wasn't like that, Ginny!"

"Really?" Ginny replied acidly. "Wasn't that what you just said? That she was supposed to stay in the Mirror Realm with her mother?"

It was his own fault…he knew that. But why didn't Ginny give him the benefit of the doubt? Why was she so ready to believe that he'd hurt her like that? He suddenly felt angry. "Will you bloody stop twisting my words!" he roared. "I _said_ I can explain, and I will. Just give me a chance to do so!"

Seemingly taken aback by his outburst, Ginny fell silent.

"Sorry…I really wanted to see you again, I didn't want to cause any trouble," Holly whimpered. "Please forgive me, Daddy."

Harry smiled ruefully. "It's all right. I should have known that you'd come to find me anyway. I guess you take after me in that respect. I'm happy to see you…really!" He hugged her again.

"Come on…get back to your posts!" Commander Ironheart bellowed to the Rangers in the maintenance bay. "If Mr Potter deems it necessary to fill you in later, he will do so." 

With that, everyone who had been staring quickly went about their business again, or pretended to do so.

"C'mon, Ginny," Hermione muttered, linking her arm through Ginny's and dragging her along. "You heard the commander…you're supposed to be in the Medical Wing."

Ginny looked miserable, and before the left the bay entirely, Ginny paused at the doors and stared to turn as if to look back. But she stopped, turned away once more and left. 

The earlier commotion had drawn Gudrun's attention as well, and she rolled off the levitation square she been occupying to hurry after Ginny. 

Harry swallowed. Ginny hadn't even wanted to look at him. How was he going to fix this?

"Don't you three have somewhere to be?" Commander Ironheart asked Heidi, Matt and Ron.

"You wanted to see me…" Matt began uncertainly.

"Oh, of course, I'm sorry." Commander Ironheart sighed. "My condolences. I know it's a little late for that, but I've been rather busy."

Matt nodded solemnly. "That's okay, Commander. I still appreciate it."

"I also heard that you're looking for someone to take over your father's business enterprises for the time being?"

"Yes, sir."

"I know a person who still owes me a few favours. He's a former Ranger…he used to be in the Administrative Division, so he's quite capable is managing resources as vast as your father's. Coincidentally, he's working in one of your father's companies as we speak. His name is Louis Marchand."

"I've met him. He's in charge of the media oriented enterprises, if I'm not mistaken, isn't he? Bloke with a weird birthmark on his nose?"

"That's him," Ironheart confirmed.

Matt frowned. "Well, I wanted someone who was already part of my father's financial empire to take over. If you trust this man and he has the right credentials…why not. Still, I don't want this man to take the job only as a favour to you."

"Oh, don't worry." Ironheart smiled. "He's been looking for a more challenging job. He told me so on several occasions."

"All right, then," Matt agreed. "But I'd like meet him first. Some negotiations might be in order, and I'd like to do that myself. I owe my father that much."

"I'll get to work on that right away…after I deal with some issues. Miss Gravenstein…in my office on my desk, there are three sealed rolls of parchment. Could you deliver them to the Lord Mayor, please?"

"Will that be all?" Heidi asked.

"For now I just need them to be delivered. They're about new treaties between Concordia and us. Your captain or lieutenant will fill you in on the details. I need someone to see it through…unless you already have another assignment? I'm a bit out of the loop…"

"No sir, that's fine," Heidi said. "I'm on my way."

"Mr Weasley," Ironheart continued, after Heidi had left, " don't you have anywhere to be?"

"He worked the nightshift," Harry said quickly. "And I don't mind him being present. I'm sure he'd like to hear my explanation too," he added, knowing that he'd need his best friend's help to win back Ginny's trust. "And Matt can come along too." Safety in numbers, he thought.

"All right. Your quarters, Mr Potter," the Commander said, and turned on his heel, leading Harry, Ron and Holly up through the hill and into the Citadel proper, where the living quarters were located.

While they were on their way, Harry tried his best to ignore the odd glances he got from passers-by, as his daughter clung to him like there was no tomorrow. Commander Ironheart's stern glare was enough to make all of them look away, but he was still glad when they were finally inside his quarters, away from all the prying eyes. Then he began to tell his story.

"Do you remember how I told you that Pecos Bill intervened when that Speculum Demon was about to kill me, after the Root of Evil duplicated me?" 

The Root of Evil, sensing that he'd been looking for a portal, had cast an illusion of his expectations of the portal in order to lure him into a trap. The duplication had left him weak and helpless, and the Demon had been about to finish him off, when Pecos Bill had turned up.

"Yeah." Ron nodded gravely.

"Holly was there too," Harry continued. "It was actually thanks to _her _that they were there at that moment in time." Ron was about to say something, but Harry held up a hand for silence. "Hold on, the explanation may sound a bit odd. I'll try to keep it as coherent as possible."

The others patiently waited for him to gather his thoughts.

"When I first washed up on a river bank in the Mirror Realm, a young caretaker found me."

"You said she nursed you back to health, but that wasn't all, was it?" Ron growled.

Harry met Ron's withering stare defiantly. "I'm only human. Besides, at the time I still thought you all hated me…that Ginny hated me. I had nothing to lose!" He realised that he would be hitting below the belt by throwing the next bit of information into Ron's face, but right now he had little choice. He had to get his point across at any cost. "Lest we forget, you told me how you kissed Padma when it seemed like it was over between you and Hermione!" 

This seemed to stay Ron's wrath momentarily. "Go on."

"She was fascinated with me. She'd only heard about mortals from the elder caretakers but she'd never seen one before…not even the ones from the Mirror Realm itself. Caretakers experience emotions differently then we do, and when she picked up some of mine, she wanted to know more about them…experience them even. I showed her about love…against my better judgement, but like I said, I'm no saint."

"Was she pretty?" Ron asked in a strangled voice.

"Holly's the spitting image of her mum, except for the hair," Harry answered.

Ron looked Holly over and nodded, a weird smile playing over his lips as he did so. Harry didn't like the way Ron was looking at his daughter at all!

"I succumbed to her charms, and my own lust," Harry continued. "Don't get me wrong. Even though I didn't love her, I felt a great deal of affection for Carey. I'm not shallow enough to sleep with a woman I don't feel anything for."

Matt's eyebrows went up. "Does this mean you had feelings for Heidi?"

Harry scowled at Matt, but it had actually been his own fault. His last remark had given Matt the opening. He'd never been very good at debating, but fortunately he had a good and truthful answer for Matt. "Heidi is a different story. My feelings for Heidi were echoes of my feelings for Ginny. They weren't genuine. I mean, she's really nice, but she's not really my type."

"And Carey was?" Ron asked.

"That's not what I said," Harry groaned. He ran his hand through his hair, trying to think of a good way to voice his feelings. "I could ask _you_ if Padma was your type!"

"I didn't have a _child_ with her!" Ron threw back.

"No, but your initial motivation was the same. In my case, things just got a bit out of hand. Now let me finish telling my story!"

"Allow him to finish," Ironheart interrupted sternly, preventing Ron from interrupting again. 

Thank you, sir," Harry said gratefully, and continued. "If she'd told me that she was pregnant, I never would have left. I guess that's why she didn't tell me."

"Mother told me that Father loved a girl named Ginny, and that it would have been evil for her to come between them," Holly jumped in, confirming Harry's suspicions. "But she let him go, knowing she still had me to love after he was gone."

"Holly wanted to meet me in person. I've always wanted to meet my parents myself, so I don't blame her. But none of the caretakers knew what had become of me after I entered the Forest of Reflection. They didn't know whether or not I had survived. So when Holly met Pecos Bill twelve years from now, chronologically, she begged him to take her with him on his travels."

"He taught me to ride the winds of time," Holly chattered excitedly. "We travelled everywhere and every time. We went into the past and the future, and to other places in the realm."

"Let them read it in Bill's book, Holly." Harry smiled. After meeting Pecos Bill, he learned that the domain of the caretakers was actually only a tiny and rather inaccessible part of the Mirror Realm. There were many kinds of magical beings and creatures, some which didn't exist in the Earth Realm anymore, like the Cat People and the Doppelgangers. "Yes she travelled far and wide…and she conned Bill into travelling back to the time when I was in the Forest of Reflection. They found me, and just in time. So if it hadn't been for Holly wanting to meet me, the Speculum Demon would have killed me, because Bill wouldn't have been there to intervene. I owe my continued existence to Holly's existence."

"You didn't know the caretaker was pregnant," Ron said, attempting to sort the information. It looked like he was accepting the explanation.

"I didn't."

"And you wouldn't have left her if you'd known…"

Harry swallowed. "Well, the Earth Realm didn't look too inviting at the time. I thought you all hated me, but I chose to come back anyway because I felt I wasn't done repaying my debts. If I'd known that Carey was pregnant, however, I might not have made the same decision," he said honestly, "because a woman who cared me, and who I also cared about…and a daughter, my own flesh and blood…might have changed my mind about leaving."

"I understand," Ron said gloomily. "I still think you should have told us about it, though."

"You're probably right about that," Harry sighed, "but you know how insecure Ginny can be. Do you honestly think she'd have accepted it? I was afraid to lose her because of it."

His best friend frowned. "She's a bit insecure when it comes to _you_…that's true. But telling her would have been less damaging than her finding about it like this."

"But this wasn't supposed to happen."

"That's beside the point," Matt, who had been silently listening so far, said. "And I don't think either of you are giving Ginny enough credit. She really loves you, Harry. I'm sure she would have forgiven you." 

"Don't be so sure." Commander Ironheart sighed sadly. "You don't know women, son. My wife gave me hell every time I broke the news to her."

Harry frowned at that statement, suddenly wondering how many children the commander had sired with other women. Apparently, Wolfe's father hadn't been the only one. And why would the commander have told his wife?

"They can exact their revenge in the worst possible way, at the worst possible time, even if they _love_ you," Ironheart added with a mournful look. "And it's much worse when they hate you, but I digress. Your brief explanation concurs with your daughter's."

"Daughter…" Harry muttered, looking at Holly. "You'll have to stop calling me Daddy. I'm barely three years older than you are now. I can't stop every time to explain exactly how I could have got a girl pregnant when I was three. To everyone but my closest friends on the outside world, you'll have to be a distant relative. Do you mind pretending for a while?" 

Holly shook her head. "No, Daddy…err…Harry."

Harry smiled. "Thanks."

Holly's own smile was replaced by a troubled look. "Harry, it's my fault that your Ginny is mad at you now, isn't it?"

"No, it's all my own fault."

"Don't worry, Harry. I'll fill Hermione in. She'll know how to convince Ginny," Ron said.

"And in the meantime, someone here ought to show Holly the sights in Concordia." Matt smiled, patting Holly's thigh, which awaked that strange feeling inside Harry again.

"Kelly…keep your hands off my daughter!"

Matt grinned. "But I'm the ideal son-in-law, _Dad_! Don't worry, I'm not interested in your daughter that way, though I must say—"

"I don't want to hear it!" Harry barked. 

"You shouldn't make jokes about that, Mr Kelly." Ironheart smiled. "When you have a daughter of your own, these issues will haunt your mind as well."

"I'll just have to have sons then," Matt replied.

"Unless you're cursed not to have daughters, there's no guarantee of that," he said, a businesslike expression taking over his features. "Harry, I know this comes at a bad time for you, since you'll want to patch things up with Ginny."

Harry winced. He really needed to explain things to Ginny. But he couldn't neglect his duties as a Ranger. "Where to now, sir?"

"Japan. Yuriko Makioka believes she knows the location of the facility where the princess is being kept. She needs our help to verify it, and then infiltrate it to retrieve the princess."

Harry looked at Holly. What would become of her?

"Don't worry about her; we'll look after her for the time being. She's already been assigned her own room. I'm afraid you'll have to do without your father for a while, my dear." As the commander said that, the door to his office opened. Serafina Esposito stood in the doorway, smiling benignly at Holly. "Serafina will show you your room."

"But I don't want him to go!" Holly said indignantly, gripping Harry's hand tightly…too tightly. Harry felt the joints in his hand send waves of pain to his brain in protest of their treatment.

"Holly, not so hard!" he grunted. 

She immediately slackened her grip. "Sorry, I forget how much stronger I am than mortals."

"That's okay, Holly." Harry massaged his hand. "I'm sure the Commander Ironheart will let us talk to each other every day through the long range broadcaster."

"I'm sure that can be arranged." Ironheart nodded, smiling indulgently.

"Go with Serafina. I'll come to say goodbye before I go," Harry assured her.

Holly reluctantly rose and walked towards the doorway. 

Harry saw the Spanish witch eye her clothes critically and muttering a few oaths in her native language. He knew she and Heidi could talk fashion for hours, and he suddenly realised what lay in store for his daughter.

"Don't bother trying to change her hair!" he told Serafina, before she closed the door. Ron and Matt guffawed.

"She sure got the raw end of the deal, with your hair." Ron laughed.

"Could've been worse," Matt hiccuped. "She could've looked like him too."

"Gentlemen…if you're quite done…" Ironheart interrupted.

"Sorry sir," Matt and Ron chorused.

"Apologise to Harry…later, on your way to Japan."

"What?" Matt and Ron exclaimed, once more simultaneously.

"Sir, I don't have a problem with going to Japan," Matt continued. "But I'd rather have permission to go to Caer Sidi with a few volunteers to ship the treasure out of there."

The Australian went on to tell the commander about the Consanguinity Charm and its consequences. The elder Ranger's brows furrowed as he learned that Malfoy also had access to the vaults. He folded his hands and stared at an imaginary point on his desk.

"Draco Malfoy… " he muttered after a while, "Grew up to be just like his father. A pity that Lucius wouldn't let Narcissa exert more influence over the boy. She may be haughty and a little bigoted—"

"A little?" Ron snorted.

"But that's just her upbringing," Ironheart continued as if he hadn't heard Ron. "She's not evil, like Lucius...she can't be. But I had no right to do anything to stop her from marrying him. That's what her…_father_…groomed her for. To be a trophy wife for a rich pureblood with no morals. There was no love there. Lucius was over a decade older…she was just out of school. And he hardly ever treated her with proper respect."

It was awkward, hearing Ironheart talk like this. It seemed like he knew the Malfoys very well. Harry knew that he was right, though. Lucius Malfoy had been about Mr Weasley's age, while Narcissa was considerably younger. But that wasn't what Harry found peculiar. It was Commander Ironheart's expression.

"With all due respect, Commander." Ron shook his head. "She could've turned her husband in, but she didn't. That's just as evil—"

"The majority of people choose not to oppose evil for fear of their lives," Ironheart said darkly. "It isn't all black and white. There are many shades of gray. But we're not here to discuss the nature of good and evil. 

"Harry, you'll go to Japan with Osman, Riyadi, Brody and Blackmoon from the Martial Division."

Harry frowned. Osman and Riyadi were lieutenants, and Brody and Blackmoon were Fourth Class Combat Rangers. He was the most junior Ranger for a change. The commander was sending in his most seasoned troops.

"Wilson and Wortelgraaf will be your Intel Field operatives, and Kozminski will be the Medical Ranger. Weasley…you'll co-ordinate their actions from the Cruiser."

"M-me?" Ron stammered incredulously.

"You'll be assisting Faust. He'll be going as well. You'll be leaving in two hours. That will be all, Rangers. Kelly, stay!"

Harry and Ron rose, saluted, and retreated from Ironheart's office, leaving Matt alone with the commander.

"Damn, how am I going to straighten this out with Ginny?" Harry grumbled. He'd need more than two hours to convince Ginny that he really loved her, and that Holly's existence didn't change those feelings.

"I reckon it'll take a while for her to get used to the idea." Ron shrugged. "Go talk to her in the lab. Do some damage control."

"I need you there with me!" 

Ron shook his head. "Sorry mate. I don't want to abandon you. But I need to talk to Captain Faust before we leave."

"You just made that up!"

"You know me better than that!" Ron said pointedly, looking insulted. "Hermione will be there, so you needn't worry. She'll hold Ginny back."

Harry sighed. "All right." Ron might have had something to discuss with Captain Faust, but there would have been plenty of time to discuss it. He just used it as an excuse to weasel out of the situation. But maybe it was all for the better. If Ron were to stand up for him, that would draw Ginny's wrath onto him as well.

"Thanks mate," Ron said gratefully, and hurried away, leaving Harry standing in the corridor, pondering the best way to break the news to Ginny.

As the minutes ticked by, he began having his doubts about the competence of the Sorting Hat. He shouldn't have been placed in Gryffindor. He was too much of a coward! Of course, he hadn't known Ginny then. It wasn't as if he were afraid of getting cursed. He'd weathered the most devastating curses already. No…he was afraid of losing Ginny forever. That was his greatest fear. What would he do if she wouldn't forgive him?

__

The longer you wait, the greater the likelihood that that'll happen. The annoying little voice in the back of his mind squeaked.

"Thanks, sir," he suddenly heard Matt say, as the tall Australian stepped out of Ironheart's office.

"No thanks are needed," Ironheart said. "I'm not doing you any favours. It's all in the best interests of the Order too."

"All the same, I don't think you've given me as hard a time as Commander Nomvete would have given me."

"Yes, she's rather fond of preliminary paperwork, isn't she? Unfortunately, time is of the essence. Through Draco Malfoy, Anastasiou has access to your family treasure. I'll send a message to Irina. She'll work out who's available to accompany you."

"Yes sir," Matt said, and turned on his heel, taking long-legged strides to the other end of the corridor before disappearing round the corner.

"Was there something you wanted to say to me, son?" Ironheart asked, noticing Harry.

Harry shook his head. "Just gathering my courage to face Ginny."

Ironheart sighed and leaned against the doorjamb, a faraway look in his eyes. "I remember the first time I had to tell Aria"—he grimaced and crossed his arms—"most unpleasant. However, I may have been mistaken, earlier. Your relationship with Ginny is different from my relationship with Aria. You and Ginny share a bond of love that's nearly unique. Me, I don't really love my wife. Tempeste was the one I wanted to grow old with. But I had made a commitment by that time, and backing out would have caused a lot of grief."

"More grief than you've caused by straying?" Harry bit his tongue. He hadn't meant to say that, but the words had tumbled out of his mouth before he'd known what he'd been doing.

"I'm not so sure anymore. But I _do _know that backing off would have sparked a feud between our families. And you know how those wizarding quarrels can get. One of them spawned those Quintapeds."

The hairy MacBoons…he'd first read about it in a book about magical creatures. He guessed Ironheart's reason must have been good enough. "I didn't know that, sir. But…_why_ are you telling _me_ this?"

"I don't want you to think too badly of me. It's in my blood. I'm half incubus, you see. My sire was a Greater Incubus, to be precise. In my younger years, I couldn't really help myself when I saw an interesting female. It was worse if they were virgins…"

Logical, since one of the incubi's primary objectives was to soil virgins, Harry mused, after his mind had cleared away the shock of the revelation.

"Being a Mind Reader, I also saw the questions in your mind. Not many people know about my demon sire, and I'd like to keep it that way. But I've already told you this much, so there's no reason to answer your earlier questions. But it'll have to remain between you and me."

Harry nodded.

Ironheart sighed. "Over the last sixty-one years, I've been with nine hundred and fourteen women…and a giantess." 

Harry blinked. Was Ironheart bragging?

"I most certainly am not trying to _impress_ you, Harry. Just stating a fact."

"O-Okay!" Harry's breath caught in his throat as a crazy idea flashed across his mind. "Narcissa wouldn't happen to be one of those women, would she?"

Ironheart slowly shook his head. "No, she isn't."

"S-So, how many children have you got, besides your wife's…if you don't mind my asking, that is."

"I brought up the subject, so I don't mind. I have three children with other women. Not that many, all things considered, eh?"

"How can you be sure there are only three?"

"I've always kept tabs on those women for a while, to see if there were any consequences, if you catch my meaning. It was a dangerous game, mind you. I used the Order's resources to accomplish this. But Basham forgave me, so that's that, I guess. So I'm fairly sure my knowledge is accurate. Not one hundred percent, but the I deem the odds that I'm mistaken are very slim."

"So that means there are two others, besides Wolfe's dad."

"Two girls." Ironheart nodded sadly.

"Do they know that you're their father?" Harry asked, hoping he wasn't prying too much. But Commander Ironheart could actually have some useful information for him. It might give him an idea on how to approach the subject with Ginny. "Did you arrange things so you could see them often?"

"One of the girls was told the truth early on, and I helped her mother financially. I made sure I saw her once in a while, at least twice a year. She turned out all right. She's one of the youngest members of the International Confederation of Magic.

"The other…she didn't know until last year. Her mother was a married woman, so the truth was a luxury we couldn't afford. We wanted to tell her when she was grown up, but that would have placed her in danger from Voldemort's supporters."

"How so?" Harry frowned.

"She was married off to one," Ironheart said tonelessly.

It fell into place. Ironheart's earlier attitude…everything made sense now!

Ironheart nodded and confirmed his thoughts. "Yes…her."

__

Narcissa was Ironheart's daughter, which meant… "Oh, no!"

***

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jona: He he he, how about _this _bombshell? And let Wolfe escape? Where's the fun in that?

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Darkest Night: Gee, It's quite flattering to say that I'm in the same category as Ruskbyte. I know I still have some way to go before I reach that level, though.

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austin: Yeah the Chap 21 EaL cliffie was a good one, wasn't it? Actually, that was the best chapter I've ever written, in my own opinion, and the reviews seem to agree with me there. I pulled in 50 with that chapter. I never managed to do that again.

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weirdo_without_a_clue: Thanks for the review. What do you mean by extreme love scenes?

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nycgal: I'll drop a mail if I need any info. Thanks for reviewing yet again. You have no idea how much it means to me.

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Anna (A 29467): This chapter answered all your questions, hopefully.

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BigDaddy753: Gudrun was an adult. Mary's father wasn't! And Harry was an adult too, so you can't really call them childhood flings, can you? ;-)

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LadySiri: Yeah, Harry showed her how it's done. :-) In fact, I mentioned it in chapter 7 of EaL.

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the.grey.lady: I think you meant Matt's vault. And I can't answer that. :-(

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Gogirl: Did you see _this one _coming? *evil grin* Hmmm, killing Harry to be merciful, now there's an idea. I bet I can torture Harry worse than you ever could.

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Lioness-07863: This chapter answered your question, I think.

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Eclectic Angel: Re-read chapters 7 and 25 of EaL. It'll clear things up.

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Lamina Court: Oh, don't worry. The reunion between Wolfe and the rest will be spectacular.

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dc113: You had an interest theories, Archie. ;-)

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gallandro-83: I'm sorry I'm spending so much time with the side characters. I'm trying to develop the balancing of many characters as my writing style. If it'll make you feel any better, the side characters all serve a key purpose in the overall plot. So I can't leave them alone even if I wanted to. Oh, and it isn't Morgana, although I did model the character after her somewhat. Good guess. Hehehe…Malfoy's _jewels_, funny. ^-^ If anything in that vault can help him attain immortality, he'll want it. On another note, is your pen-name inspired by a Star Wars character?

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Maverick Davis: Good AH or bad AH?

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Foxfur: Will Malfoy lose his jewels if the mistress is killed? Hmmm, I'm not sure.

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starwest: How did you like this chapter?

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A-Potter-Person: There's going to be a huge Star Wars reference after chapter 21. :-)

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Maab: Hope this chapter eased your pondering a little.

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Bane: I might write an out-take with all the family trees.

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The Millennium One: I'm afraid I can't write any faster. My life won't let me.

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Crazyfriendsfan: That was an interesting hypothesis.

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Lady Reaper of the Shadows: This pen name is much more menacing than the previous one. If you're really serious about becoming a better writer, I'm sure the betas of Gryffindor Tower will help you. But only if you're committed to improving.

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Jemima Blue: Laughs Out Loud. Is this the key role you envisioned for Ironheart? *evil smile*

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Casual Reader: Yes, you should have.

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Prongs: Harry is _not_ Frodo. (Don't like Frodo)

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Petals: Actually, I kind of _did _make Galatea pregnant to torture Wolfe. Lest we forget, it gives the enemy more to work with.

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Author's Note: I can't keep up this writing pace. I'll have to slow down to twelve days instead of ten.

I would also like to take this opportunity to ask something. This story will likely be A/U before I finish it, meaning OoTP will come out before it's done. Will you guys still read the story, and the third part of the trilogy?


	20. When Diamonds shatter

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When the Diamonds Shatter 

Chapter 20

Captain Faust's office was less than a two-minute stroll away from Ironheart's. He only needed to descend the stairs to get out of Ironheart's tower, and he was there. 

Ron knocked.

"Just a minute!" Faust's muffled reply came after Ron had knocked on the door. There was a lot of shuffling on the other side, followed by a crashing sound.

It sounded very nasty, so Ron opened the door, finding Faust sitting behind an empty desk. A small statue of the legendary wizard Faust — Ron wasn't sure whether or not it was an ancestor of the captain — lay in front of the desk, shattered into tiny bits.

"Mr Weasley, what a surprise!" Faust wiped his red face with a handkerchief.

Ron felt the blood rush to his face. Faust wasn't alone. His wife, looking dishevelled, was buttoning up her blouse. "Oh, I'm terribly sorry!"

"_I'm_ sorry you had to catch us like this." Lieutenant Cliff smiled mischievously. She didn't look embarrassed at all, unlike her husband. "But with Nehanda running us ragged and having us working at different hours, we needed to improvise to be together."

Ron could sympathise with that. Commander Nomvete had done the same to him and Hermione. He doubted whether Hermione would be up for something like this, though. Not that they'd be able to get away with it, being junior Rangers. Then there was the fact that it was hard to be alone in the medical labs…

"So, how may I help you?" Faust asked.

"I was just wondering what this mission is about, and why you picked me to go on that mission in Japan. Besides me, _Harry's _the most junior of the lot, and he's Fifth Class. I'm not even a formal Ranger yet! What could I contribute?"

"You have tactical insight, Mr Weasley."

"Not greater than yours, sir."

"Perhaps not yet." Faust smiled. "I need someone who is able to second-guess my calls, and whom I trust to be good enough to do so effectively. You impressed me in the skirmish at Hogwarts, so I know you've got what it takes. Aside from that, we need your ability to submerge yourself in the minds of our adversaries to make educated guesses at their next move. You seem to be very good at that as well. As for the goal of the mission, I'll brief everyone when we're on our way."

Ron frowned. Harry hadn't been very generous with the information, but over time he'd managed to find out what had happened on Harry's earlier mission in Japan. "Commander Ironheart didn't say as much, but I assume that we're going to try and get the princess out of that prison, right?"

"If possible." Faust nodded slowly.

"I've been doing some reading on Japanese traditions, sir. If she's been disgraced, and execution or suicide is the only way to salvage or restore some of the family's honour, she may not _want _to be saved."

"We can't let her die either way. There's a very strong curse on the imperial family. It was sealed with a sacrifice," Faust said.

Ron gasped. "Bloody hell!" If this execution was perhaps another sort of sacrifice…

"Starting to see the pattern, are you?" Faust nodded. "We have—"

"_It is the hour of twilight,_" Lieutenant Cliff said; her voice sounded strange, and she had a glazed look in her eyes.

"What?" Ron frowned.

"Prophecy!" Faust said quickly, drawing his wand and flicking it. One of the drawers in his desk slid open and a quill, ink bottle and a roll of parchment shot out, laying themselves out neatly on the desk. The quill dipped itself into the ink and hovered above the parchment. "Write down my words! It is the hour of twilight."

As the quill scribbled down Faust's words, Cliff droned on. Faust repeated what Cliff said. "_A dark general will arise. He will supersede his handlers and grab the reins of evil himself, directing it onto the world. The scarred one, his Soul Brother, will oppose him. Only one will emerge from the fray._"

"Got it all," Faust said.

Lieutenant Cliff came out of her trance and blinked. "What happened? What did I say?"

Faust showed her the parchment, and Ron watched Lieutenant Cliff to see her reaction.

"The Emperor!" she hissed ominously.

"Which Emperor? Does the Emperor know we're coming?" Faust asked anxiously. "We have to abort the mission then!"

"No." Cliff shook her head. Then she looked at Ron. "Remember the reading I did for you, Hermione, Ginny and Harry? The Emperor's card that stuck to Harry's Magician,"—she pointed at the parchment— "is the dark general. And Harry is the scarred one."

"Are you sure?" Faust asked carefully.

"I'm positive. I was wondering about the meaning of my cards. In my readings I keep seeing disaster. The cards told me that the Magician would face his toughest challenge yet. And I saw that the future, not the past, would come between Harry and Ginny. That one had me confused. I had no idea what it meant until today." Cliff sighed. "I was hoping that the readings were wrong, but now that the Draconian turns out to be Harry's daughter from the future..."

"Malfoy!" Ron grumbled. "It has to be him! Who else would it be? He's always trying to find a way to gain more power."

"Well, the prophecy suggested that they'd be roughly equal in power," Faust pointed out. "Malfoy can't go head to head with Harry Potter. No one can."

"Prophecies are cryptic for a reason. Maybe they won't go head to head. Malfoy could gain the resources he needs to be an indirect challenge."

"He's got a point, love," Cliff told her husband.

Faust grinned. "_Now_ do you understand why you've been selected for the mission?"

Ron heard the captain, but he was too busy putting together various scenarios in his head to feel pleased with himself. What if the prophecy _wasn't_ cryptic? What if it was quite literal? That would mean that Malfoy's power and skill would increase dramatically. Another possibility would be that the prophecy wasn't about Malfoy at all. It could be someone else. But one thing was certain… 

"Harry needs to know. The sooner he knows, the better he can prepare. And we need to work out the identity of this dark general. He'll have an easier time preparing himself if he knows _who_ he's fighting. And if the threat is more indirect, _we'll _benefit from knowing his identity as well."

"So we can identify and take out the resources he'd bring to bear against Harry." Faust nodded. He took the roll of parchment from his wife. "Come on! We have to show Ironheart."

*

Harry's mind was reeling. It was unbelievable! Draco Malfoy was Ironheart's grandson. He was Max Wolfe's cousin…and Jasmin's too. That meant he was related to Charlie Jr…a Weasley! This must have been what Aberforth had been getting at when he talked about bloodlines. Wolfe was related to the Weasleys as well, and Matt was more distantly related to Malfoy.

Suddenly, Harry wondered whether Aberforth had known about this.

"He knew," Ironheart said simply.

Harry felt slightly irritated by Ironheart's continuous, uninvited intrusions into his mind.

"I don't have a lot of choice. Your mind is screaming so loud, I'd have to do some mental screaming of my own to drown you out. That would double the screaming, eh?"

Harry forced himself to clear his mind and slow down his thought pattern. Aberforth was just like his older brother. It seemed like everything they said had a hidden meaning to it, even when it sounded like the ramblings of an old man on the brink of senility. Had Aberforth surreptitiously been trying to prepare him for this?

"How did Aberforth find out? Didn't he retire _before_ you became a Ranger?"

"Yes, he did. Basham told him. I know she corresponded with him until her death. Like I said, she caught me using the Order's resources to monitor the women, and she demanded to know why, so I told her.

"When my daughter married Lucius…well, it was cause for concern. Their child…the child of a Death Eater, would have been a potential Mind Reader. She told him _then_, and I reckon she told Albus too, since he was leading the effort against Voldemort."

"Wow…this is a lot to take in!" Harry muttered, leaning against the wall. It was truly unbelievable.

"You look like you could use a drink," Ironheart commented, and gestured for Harry to step inside his office once more.

Harry did so, and Ironheart poured him half a glass, and a whole one for himself.

"Shouldn't be giving you this hooch, mind you…goes against all regulations. Can't have you report for your mission drunk."

Harry shrugged. Whatever Ironheart had given him seemed to concentrate his mind wonderfully, quite the opposite of getting drunk. It didn't taste too bad either.

Harry was just about finished sipping his drink when someone insistently banged on the door.

"Enter."

Captain Faust, Lieutenant Cliff and Ron came bursting through the door

"Sir, Janice just voiced a prophecy. I wrote it all down," Faust said, handing Ironheart the parchment.

Ironheart read it carefully. After he was done, his eyes briefly flicked to Harry's forehead. Them he slid the parchment over to Harry.

__

It is the hour of twilight. _A dark general will arise. He will supersede his handlers and grab the reins of evil himself, directing it onto the world. The scarred one, his Soul Brother, will oppose him. Only one will emerge from the fray._ That was the whole prophecy. Rather short, Harry thought.

Ironheart had looked at his scar. Was he the scarred one? "How do you know this is about me?"

"We can't be completely sure. But given your history, there is a good chance that it's about you." Faust said.

"You are the greatest avatar of the light side," Cliff added. "It would almost be logical for you to fight this dark general. Harry…I think this general is the Emperor card that stuck to your Magician card…the one you drew, remember?"

"Are you sure?"

"As far as my instincts go."

"It could be Malfoy, but I'm not sure," Ron interjected. "I mean, he's bound to rebel against his superiors and grab power for himself, right? But he's no match for you! So then I thought that maybe the struggle would be more indirect."

"We have to find out for certain who this individual is," Faust said.

"Malfoy?" Harry said slowly. It was too much for his brain to handle. Too many things were being cast his way.

"Perhaps I should send someone else to Japan instead of Harry, Matthias," Ironheart said. "It looks like he might need some extra preparation."

"Maybe that's not such a good idea, Commander." Ron blushed under the commander's inquisitive stare. " Prophecies are hard to avert. Maybe sending Harry to Japan is exactly the sort of preparation he needs. There is no sense in changing your behaviour to try and prepare for the prophecy."

"I concur," Lieutenant Cliff said.

"A good point," Ironheart agreed. "Yet I believe that Harry's the one who should make this decision. Do you think today's events will hamper your functioning on your mission?"

"I can't say." Harry shook his head. "But in the past I've always managed to force my mind to remain in the moment, despite prophecies."

"So you're going?"

Harry nodded.

"Very well." Ironheart nodded and picked the parchment off his desk, handing it to Lieutenant Cliff. "Could you deliver this to Ogygia, to see if anyone else voiced the prophecy?"

"Now?" Lieutenant Cliff asked looking at her husband wistfully.

"Now, now, my dear, duty comes first." Faust sighed.

Ironheart smiled. "I'll make it up to you at the earliest possible opportunity."

Lieutenant Cliff rolled her eyes and relented. "All right." She walked to the door, turned to blow a kiss at her husband as she walked through it, and closed it behind her.

"Are you sure you want to come with us, Harry?" Faust asked, repeating Ironheart's earlier question.

"You don't have to treat me like a kid," Harry said peevishly. "I never let my personal affairs interfere with my job. Besides, main reason we're going to Japan is because I messed up last time," he added morosely. The bile rose to his throat as the memory resurfaced in his mind. He should have listened to Wolfe.

"You couldn't have known about the consequences of your actions," Ironheart said.

"Wolfe gave me a warning," Harry said dejectedly. "I chose not to listen."

"But you didn't know what he was warning you about, did you?"

"The look he gave me told me to be quiet. I should've obeyed, regardless."

Ironheart had no immediate answer to that, and an uncomfortable silence followed until Ron spoke up. "Wolfe wouldn't have wanted you to beat yourself up over it. You've learned a lot since then. You won't make the same mistake again."

Harry nodded. He wouldn't make the same mistake again, but it was too late anyway. He just hoped he'd be able to make a difference in the mission they were about to undertake. He glanced at his watch. He still needed to talk to Ginny.

Commander Ironheart, who had been staring at him intently all this time, nodded. "You're excused."

Harry rose from his seat and walked out of the office, Ron closely on his heels. 

"Oy…wait up!" Ron began. "Why were you still in Ironheart's office? Did he need to know more about your daughter?"

"No, it wasn't about Holly," Harry hesitated not quite knowing if Commander Ironheart had intended for him to tell Ron about it. "Uh…we talked about his children with other women…how his wife reacted to them. Wolfe's dad wasn't his only child out of wedlock."

"Guess not." Ron shrugged. "I heard Commander Ironheart has had hundreds of women."

"Who told you?"

"Hermione. She heard it from Lilia, who heard it from Serafina Esposito."

Harry rolled his eyes. "Of course. Who else?" he muttered. "Bloody hell, was I the only one who didn't know?"

"I reckon you were." Ron grinned. "Was that all he wanted to talk about? How his wife reacted when he told her about his other kids? Did he have some pointers you could use with Ginny?"

"Ron…" Harry braced himself for Ron's reaction. "One of his children is Malfoy's mum."

Ron's mouth fell open and his face went purple. He tried to say something, but only a gurgling sound came out of his mouth. He tried again, and began to cough. "Thank God…it's out," was the bewildering answer.

"What? You knew about this too?"

"No, I meant my tongue. I swallowed it… By Cliodna's knickers! Ironheart is Malfoy's grandfather."

Harry nodded.

"That means he's related to Jasmine too."

"Yes."

"And Charlie!"

"And Charlie…" Harry said warily.

Ron shuddered. "I can't believe it! That actually gives me a link to him. Oh, Mum will have a fit when she hears this."

"What the problem? _You're_ not related to him." 

"No, but this is just as bad! This still _associates_ me with him!"

"If you say so!" Harry shook his head.

They continued on their way and took an express levitation disk down into the hill where the greater part of the base was housed, the Citadel proper being only the proverbial tip of the iceberg.

They found Hermione alone in the lab where Ginny was supposed to be, talking to Captain Sharif.

*

"I can't believe he never told anyone!" Sharif said. "Poor Ginny…"

Poor Ginny! Captain Sharif had sent her home because she wouldn't have been any good to him if she'd stayed. A distraught witch shouldn't be brewing complicated potions.

"Hermione…" It was Harry's voice. "Where's Ginny?"

"I sent her home…she was distraught!" The Egyptian thrust his nose in the air and strode past Harry and Ron.

"Home?" Harry groaned. "But I can't go off base anymore. We're leaving in less than two hours…oh, to hell with the regulations. Ginny's more important!"

Harry's obvious distress made Hermione's anger towards him lessen a bit. He couldn't leave the base two hours prior to a mission. "How long will you be gone?"

"We don't know," Ron said.

__

We? Ron was going too! Hermione's gut suddenly began to stir, making her feel sick. "You don't know?" With their luck, she'd probably ovulate while he was away.

She felt Ron's arms wrap around her. "Don't worry. We'll have a whole bunch of babies! Where there's a will, there's a way."

His optimism raised her spirits a little. She looked at Harry, who was about to explode. "Harry, do you love Ginny?"

"Yes!"

"Did you love that girl's mother?"

Harry fidgeted. "_Love_…no."

"But you slept with her anyway?"

"Hermione…"Ron squeezed her hand. "You ought to give Harry a chance to explain himself."

"I don't have time!" Harry said urgently. "I need to try to fix things with Ginny."

"You'll get into trouble if you leave the base now. But if you tell me exactly how it happened, I'll tell Ginny. I need you to tell me about the nature of your relationship. And it had better be good," Hermione warned.

Harry frowned. "What do you mean, nature?"

Hermione gave him an exasperated look. "Honestly! You know what I mean."

"I already told you I didn't love her!"

"And that's counting against you, Harry James Potter!" Hermione retorted sharply. "You slept with Heidi, but you didn't love her. You slept with Holly's mum, but you didn't love her either. If you tell Ginny that, she'll put two and two together and think that you don't love _her_ either!"

"But I _do_."

"She isn't just going to take your word for it, Harry. Maybe, if you had told her about Holly from the start, she would have believed you when you said that to her. But now that she knows you've been keeping secrets from her, she has no reason to believe you'd be sincere." Hermione sighed. "The first step is to convince Ginny that you didn't truly love…Carey, was it? The only way you could possibly accomplish that is by having a really good explanation ready. You have to be able to tell her what makes her different from Carey and Heidi."

"They're not Ginny."

"That won't be enough, Harry. You'll have to do better than that. I'd like to help you. I believe you love Ginny, and I don't want her hurting over this any longer. But I need to know exactly what made you become intimate with Carey."

I-I'm not sure," Harry said after a while. "She was gentle and caring, just like…Ginny. She patched me back up when I washed up on the shores of a river in her domain."

Just like Ginny! It was beginning to make sense for Hermione. Heidi's physical similarity to Ginny had attracted Harry to her. Now it appeared that Carey also shared a few traits with Ginny, although on a different level. "So one thing led to another?"

Harry shook his head. "She wanted me to teach her about human emotions…that's how it started off."

"Why did she want to know about human emotions?"

"She saw my dreams when I was unconscious, and she experienced my emotions through a link she'd established with me. She wanted to know more about emotions."

"What kind of dreams did you have?" Hermione asked.

Harry blushed. It was clearly embarrassing for him, but Hermione needed to know. "I dreamt about the past, you know, Voldemort, when I tortured Malfoy, and the consequences. There were also other kinds of dreams…" Harry's blush deepened.

"Well?" Hermione pressured.

"Really, Hermione. Can't you tell?" Ron shook his head.

"Of course I can. But it's important to know who."

"Do you really have to know?" Harry complained.

"Are you uncomfortable with me here?" Ron asked. "Don't be! It's perfectly normal that you've dreamt about my sister in that context…although I don't have to hear the details"—his eyes narrowed—"unless you've harboured some impure thoughts about _my_ girl too!"

"Don't be ridiculous!" Harry exclaimed.

"Only joking!" Ron chuckled.

"Ronald Bartholomew Weasley! If you keep interrupting this conversation you're going to have to leave!" Hermione warned, knowing she didn't have much time to get a good description of the event. She couldn't have Ron interrupting her.

"Bartholomew?" Harry exclaimed, incredulous. "Your middle name is Bart—"

"Shhh! No so loud!" Ron hissed, and glared accusingly at Hermione. "Why'd you have to tell him?"

"He's your best friend! I can't believe he didn't already know."

"I told you I didn't tell _anybody_! That included Harry."

"Well that's daft—" Hermione began, and a clearing of Harry's throat prevented her from voicing her opinion on the matter.

"How long have you two been married?" he asked with a teasing grin.

Hermione huffed. "How can I marry a man who won't tell people his middle name? They're going to hear it at the wedding ceremony anyway…oh…!" she blushed as the meaning of Harry's remark belatedly hit home. She and Ron _did_ argue like a married couple, and that arguing tended to slow down her cognitive processes. "Where were we?"

"Harry was about to tell us about his dreams," Ron said.

Harry blushed again. "Err, well I had _those_ kinds of dreams about Heidi and Ginny. But I had normal dreams too," he added defensively. "I often dreamt about the way things were…"

"Before Malfoy, right?" Ron said. His tone was surprising, and Hermione turned to look at him, noticing the pained expression on his face. Ron felt responsible too.

"No, not just Malfoy. I meant before your dad and Fred were killed, and Hagrid…when we were relatively carefree, and Ginny and I were growing closer. Ginny was very prominent in those dreams."

"So Carey knew about Ginny, and how you felt about her?"

"She linked my strongest feelings to Ginny."

"Positive as well as negative?"

"She tended to focus on the positive," Harry said wryly. "Anyway, like everyone else, Carey noticed how much Ginny and Heidi looked alike. She came to the conclusion that I had to favour women who looked like that. And then, she ran her hands through her hair and, poof, it was red too."

"She tried to seduce you like that?"

Harry shrugged. "I'm not sure she really knew what seduction was. Yes, she obviously thought having red hair would make me more receptive. But I explained to her that love doesn't work that way, and she didn't pursue the matter afterwards, at least, not for a while. But she didn't really seduce me for the sake of _sex_. She wanted to know more about emotions…about love, lust, and the difference. She wanted me to show her, and help her experience those emotions. She wasn't really aware of what she was doing."

Hermione wasn't too sure about that. One could argue that Carey had used her caretaker abilities to seduce Harry. She had known how Harry felt about Ginny. She'd tried to model her appearance to Ginny's. Maybe she'd adapted her _behaviour_ to Ginny's as well, to make Harry more susceptible to her charms.

"We grew closer and closer. She was very pretty, and I suppose she must have sensed my interest, or something. She began talking about love again. I didn't discourage her. So after a day or two, we…err…"

"A day or two? That was awfully quick. Bloody hell, when you were dragged off into the Mirror Realm, did you leave your spine in this one?" Ron admonished.

"We're not judging him, Ron," Hermione admonished in her turn. She looked at Harry and hesitated, unsure how to tell him what she was thinking. "You say you grew closer as time passed. Why?"

Harry shrugged helplessly. "Should I have been hostile, then? She was very nice to me the whole time."

"I mean, what made you decide to finally cross into the most intimate form of the physical relationship?" She paused, realising that she sounded like some sort of professional counsellor. Galatea had been teaching her the basics little by little, the past few weeks. And whenever she had time, she'd read some of the books Galatea had on the subject. But Harry was her friend and she had to treat him as one. "The way she behaved towards you, coupled with her looks?"

"She _was_ very pretty."

"And her red hair didn't have anything to do with it?"

Harry looked surprised. "Oh, no…that's right, I forgot to tell you, she turned her hair black again right after she turned it red. She didn't use that to seduce me, if that's what you're implying. And I didn't like her just because she was nice and good looking. It was more than that. She made me forget some of the horrible things I've been through. 

"Caretakers have a unique view on things. They really helped me put some things into perspective. The ancient ones with their wisdom, Carey with her innocence…"

Hermione frowned. "Why did you leave, then?"

"I felt I still had to repay my debt in this realm. The caretakers convinced me that you'd all forgive me in time, and that made returning to this realm more attractive. Carey wasn't too happy when I left. Her feelings for me had deepened, I think."

"Do you think she was in love with you?"

"I've asked myself that question many times when I travelled to the Forest of Reflection. I think her knowledge and perception of human emotion was too recently developed for her to be in love. Maybe she was in love with me, or maybe she was content with the status quo. But when I heard Holly talking about her mum, after she and Pecos Bill rescued me from the Demon, I realised that at least _later_, Carey must have understood my reasons. She obviously didn't bear any lasting resentment. Holly would have taken that over from her, wouldn't you think?" 

Then Harry took another tack. "For a while, I actually resented Carey a bit. I thought she'd used me." 

"After you found out about Holly?" Ron asked.

"Before that. In a sense, she took advantage of my vulnerability."

Hermione nodded. That had been exactly what she'd been thinking. While her intent may not have been evil, Carey could have caused Harry a lot of emotional distress while attempting to satisfy her curiosity.

"I didn't put up much of a fight, though," Harry continued. "And saw things in a different light as time progressed. I triggered her need to experience human emotions, and she used me to learn about that. By the same token, I used her to find some comfort" —he folded his arms and shook his head— "so I'm equally guilty in that sense. There were lots of other ways for me to find some sort of comfort other than a woman's arms. But she was there, and she was willing. What matters is, the result of our passion ended up saving my life. Maybe it was _fate_."

Hermione could appreciate the irony there, and she smiled. "I'll do my best to convince Ginny that you love her."

'Thanks, Hermione," Harry said gratefully.

"Don't make me regret it," Hermione warned, as she walked over to a communications mirror. She tapped it twice, and Sarah Esklove's face appeared in the mirror.

"C&C operator, how may I direct your call?" she asked cheerfully.

"Patch me through to the mirror in the town house in blue six."

"What's the magic word!"

Hermione rolled her eyes. "Please?"

"Wrong!" Sarah grinned.

"Honestly, I don't have time for—"

"What…Sarah," Ron interrupted.

"Ten points to you! Hold on!" The image of Sarah's head faded.

"_What_ was the magic word," Ron said, a superior smirk on his face.

"Hello?" A sleepy head appeared on the mirror screen.

"Mayumi, is Ginny there?"

The Japanese witch shrugged. "Don't know. I'll check." She yawned and moved away from the mirror, returning after two minutes. "She's not here. Isn't she supposed to be at the Citadel?"

"She wasn't feeling well, and Captain Sharif gave her the day off," Hermione answered, beginning to feel worried. Ginny had been very upset. What if something had happened?

*

Blinded by tears, Ginny made her way from the portal back to the town house on instinct. While that ability may have been enough to get her home, the tears made it hard to see any obstacles. She collided with a rather plump form that clearly belonged to a woman, lost her balance and went down, landing painfully on her side.

Ginny rose quickly and spotted the person she'd collided with. It was a middle-aged witch, probably somewhere in her seventies. Ginny recognised her, since the lady lived across the street from her. "I'm sorry, Mrs Ironheart," Ginny mumbled, trying to stifle the sobs that kept escaping her. She helped the lady up. "Are you all right?"

The woman brushed off her fine dress and cloak. Then she turned her attention towards Ginny. She was somewhat intimidating, a tallish woman with a stern glare emanating from her sea green eyes. Then she seemed to notice Ginny's distress, and her expression softened. "You're upset…"

Ginny tried to deny it, but she was too emotional for words. She cursed her trembling lips and tearful eyes, right before she broke down and started to bawl.

Mrs Ironheart stepped forward and hugged her. "Calm down, child," she said with a heavy Italian accent. "You are a Ranger, yes? What is your name?"

"Ginny W-Weasley," Ginny sniffed.

"Come to my home, Ginny. We will have tea and cake, and we will talk about your man."

"Oh no, that's all right, Mrs Ironheart—" Ginny frowned. How did she know Ginny was upset over a man? "How'd you know?"

"You may call me Aria," Mrs Ironheart said jovially. "I know, because only a man can leave a girl with a broken heart." Her jovial expression clouded over somewhat and she muttered a few Italian words. It was hard to tell with a language as lyrical as Italian, but Ginny was pretty sure she'd been cursing.

Ginny didn't feel like pouring her heart out to a virtual stranger. "I wouldn't want to—"

Aria cut her off again. "It is no bother at all. I know a lot about heartbreak. Donovan is a real heartbreaker…"

Ginny barely refrained from groaning as Aria grabbed her arm and guided her to her home. The last thing she wanted to do was listen to some old wife's rants about her husband's infidelity. But maybe she should go with Mrs Ironheart anyway, in case she _did _have some useful tips. 

Either way, Ginny was sure she _didn't _want to face the others right now, and she didn't want to burden Galatea with her pain either. The part-Veela's pregnancy had made her empathic gift extra sensitive. Yes, she could use this time to settle down a bit.

A short walk later, Ginny was being led through to outer gate and through the small field of magical ice-flowers. They had dazzled her when she'd seen them through her window that morning, and now that she was close to them they seemed even more captivating.

A surly looking house-elf came forward and took Ginny and Aria's cloaks to the cloakroom. Ginny was lead immediately lead into a spacious living room. Nicolai and Mary were lying on a rug in front of the fireplace, doing their homework.

"Nicolai, some here and give grandmother a kiss! Hello, Maria."

"Hi, Mama Aria…hey, Ginny!" Mary replied, for once not making a fuss about her given name. She gave Ginny an odd look, and Ginny quickly turned around, wiping away the last of her tears and reducing the redness and puffiness of her eyes with a flick of the wand. 

After hugging him fiercely and showering him with kisses while the apple of her eye tried to break free, Aria released Nicolai and gave him a few instructions in Italian.

Nicolai nodded and returned to the fireplace, while Aria rushed out of the living room. "Come on, Mary. We have to go to my room."

"But it's chilly up there!" Mary complained.

"One of the elves will warm it for us," Nicolai said. "My grandma wants privacy!" he added softly.

Mary heaved an exasperated sigh and collected her homework. Then, as she passed Ginny on her way out, she frowned. "I saw your tears before you wiped them away with magic. Are you okay?"

"I'm fine." Ginny sighed. The little girl was too observant for her own good.

"Liar."

"Mary…" Ginny put an edge in her voice. "I don't want to talk about it."

"But you're going to tell Mama Aria?" Mary asked, not the least bit impressed by Ginny's attempt to be stern. "That's not fair. I'm your friend, and she's a stranger!"

Ginny didn't intend to tell Aria all that much. She would use these extra minutes to calm down. Then she'd be on her way home. "You wouldn't understand anyway."

"I'm smart! I almost always get full marks at school," Mary countered.

"Only because you copy from Nicolai."

"Yes, but I never get caught…I'm too clever."

"You're too clever for your own good," Ginny grumbled. "I'm not going to have this discussion with you. Clear off, or I'll tell your mum that you've been cheating."

"Fine!" Mary scowled and stomped off, shoving past a startled Nicolai. The boy gave Ginny an apologetic look before following Mary upstairs.

Moments later, Aria bustled in, followed by the same surly house-elf Ginny had seen earlier. Trays of pastries and tea hovered behind him and settled down on the low table in front of a large sofa. The elf bowed deeply and retreated from the room, leaving Ginny alone with Aria Ironheart.

The lady sat down at one end of the sofa, and beckoned Ginny to take a seat. Ginny, feeling more awkward by the second, hesitantly chose to sit at the other end.

The teapot rose all by itself and filled the two cups with hot water. A full service tea set; her mum had always wanted one of those. Maybe she owned one now. Ginny sighed, knowing that her mum would've liked to be the first one to know if anything was wrong, but at the moment she was an even worse choice than Aria Ironheart. Who knew what she'd do when she found out that Harry had a daughter!

A flat case containing an assortment of tea bags flipped open. Ginny picked a strawberry flavoured bag and began to dunk it into her tea violently as the briefly repressed thoughts about Harry rushed back to the forefront of her mind. Why didn't he tell her he had a daughter? Who was the mother of this girl? Had Harry loved her? He must have!

The girl was nearly fully-grown. That probably had to do with the fact that time ran differently in the Mirror Realm. Harry had recognised her, so he must've seen her while he was still there. Pecos Bill was younger than he ought to have been, chronologically, owing to his time travel in the realm. Harry's daughter was probably _older_ for the same reason.

Harry said he could explain. But no explanation could change the fact that this girl, Holly, existed. And Harry had kept this from her, after he'd _promised_ that there would be no more secrets between them.

She sipped her tea and glanced at Aria, who had already finished one pastry and had moved on to another, telling Ginny where those extra pounds had come from. Aside from that, it was easy to see that Aria had been a beautiful woman in her day.

"I know you don't want to tell me anything," Aria said after Ginny had finished her tea. "I do not expect you to tell me anything. I do not like to meddle in the lives of others. I just wanted to help calm you down and give you some advice. Your man, he has been unfaithful, yes?"

Ginny didn't know what to say to that. She didn't have time to think of something, because Aria continued.

"I have seen your face in the mirror too many times. I know it is so. You know my husband's history, yes?"

Ginny wanted to be modest and deny this, but it would clearly have been a lie. The fact of the matter was that _everybody _knew about Commander Ironheart's numerous escapades, though not in detail, just that he committed them. "I've heard a few things," she answered, trying to keep it neutral.

"It is thing in life that always happens…" Aria paused and searched for words. "A fact of life, yes! Men do these things. It is not in their nature to be faithful, especially the ones with the fire in their eyes. The ones without the fire, they stay home with their woman, not wanting to take risks. 

"So why did I marry a man with the fire in his eyes?" Aria smiled to herself as she asked the question. "Because the other men are dull. It is a risk I took of my own will, and I have to live with it. Yes, it hurt me, and I regretted it a few times. But he gave me four beautiful daughters, five granddaughters and a grandson." She sighed fondly, confirming what Ginny had noticed earlier about Nicolai's special status.

"The mistake I made with Donovan is that I drew the line too late. He had one child with another, and I forgave him. It happened before we were married, I could not do anything about that. Then he has another child and I forgive him again. After number three I said enough is enough! If this happens one more time, I will leave you and take Elena with me…my older daughters were already out of the house. And then, there were no more children. He had more women, yes. But I could not do anything about that. It is in Donovan's blood…demon blood from his sire…the seducer of virgins. Tell me the truth, I will not be angry, but you felt his call too, yes?"

"I didn't know Commander Ironheart was half incubus," Ginny gasped. However, it explained a few things, like why she'd been just about ready to jump him when he'd flashed her one of his dazzling smiles. To her great embarrassment, none of the other girls admitted to having been affected like she had. But they hadn't been virgins like she had been. It made her feel marginally better. "Uh, I guess I felt it." She blushed. 

Fortunately, Aria was true to her word, and she didn't get upset over Ginny's admission. "Do not be embarrassed. You are not the only one. Now, I will give you some advice. You have to draw the line! You must make your man choose. I did not, and I was always second to the mother of his first born."

That sentence sent a shiver down Ginny's spine. She was in the same boat. In fact, Commander Ironheart's incubus blood actually excused his behaviour to a certain extent. Harry didn't have that excuse, so his infidelity stung even more.

__

Has he been unfaithful, though? The annoying little voice in the back of her mind asked. _You were never really together until after he returned from the Mirror Realm. You told him you never wanted to see him again, before that. Do you really have any claim at all?_

Ginny's heart felt like it was about to explode. Did Harry really love her? As far as Ginny knew, he didn't love Heidi. But he'd slept with her anyway. Had he slept with Holly's mother for the same reason? Maybe he'd lied to her and still loved them. Could there be more to his concern for Heidi than mere friendship?

Worse, maybe his affection was time-based, and he'd simply stopped caring about them after a while. Ginny knew she wouldn't survive it if that were the case. 

She closed her eyes. Her heartache was nearly physical now, she could feel it straining at the seams. Then she heard a loud cracking sound— Aria gasped, and pain shot through Ginny's cheek. She reached up and touched it and her hand came away bloody. Something had cut her cheek. She looked at Aria, hoping that she'd seen what had done it. 

Aria was staring at her face, and then lowered her eyes to Ginny's left hand.

Ginny looked at her hand. There, like a prophet of doom, sat the ring Harry had given her. The diamond had shattered.

***

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Petals: What do you mean that you knew he was related to the Malfoys? He's related to Draco, not the Malfoys. And I never mentioned anything about that before chapter 19. I'm a little confused about your review. :-( Oh, and how did you like the ending to this chapter? ;-)

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Lioness-07863: Someone offered to read through the story and compile a family tree for me. I'm glad, since I seem to have lost the notes in which all this info is summarised, and I really don't have the time to read through both stories and work it all out. (Well, I could, but then you'd have to wait really long for the next chapter)

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Starwest45: Yeah, all fanfics are A/U. Good point.

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Foxfur: I hope the wait was worth it this time.

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Twerpus: Thanks.

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Bane: I know I threw way too many names at you early in EaL. I barely used some of those characters later on. I should have introduced them as then story developed. So I kind of realised that on my own already. I think I began reading Lori's POU, but I lost sight of it. I'll read it when I have some more time on my hands. 

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Nosgoroth: Where does it end, eh?

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The.grey.lady: I don't think Malfoy would mind torturing Wolfe even if he knew they were related. And yeas, Ginny's nearly marrying Malfoy will be brought up at some point in the future.

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Maab: So, it all makes sense, huh? *evil cackle*

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Lamina Court: I didn't say it would be a happy reunion.

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Gogirl: Harry Potter or Star Wars? *laughs hysterically* Funny that you should mention that. Wait until you read chapter 22.

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weirdo_without_a_clue: I couldn't go into the details of the love scenes even if I knew how to write one properly. This is PG-13, after all. ;-)

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Philip: Thank you for your continued support.

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BigDaddy753: An infant Holly wouldn't serve the plot I have in mind.

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nycgal: You'll see the triplets again soon.

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Lord Dreadnault: Gee, thanks.

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crazyfriendsfan: Figured it out yet?

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LadySiri: How'd the scrapbook go?

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Ginny1946: This was the next chapter. Hope it was worth the wait. The family tree is on the way.

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merlinthemighty: Thanks for the review. 

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Jemima Blue: Type italics? As in the review window? I have no idea.

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jona: Holly will re-appear soon.

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GothQueen: Actually, I need to stop with the cliffhangers. It's something typical of online posters. The whole point behind my fanfic writing is to practice for when I when I begin to write original stuff. And published authors don't use cliffhangers like this.

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Lady Reaper of the Shadows: In my family, _I'm _the strange one.

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A-Potter-Person: I think you'll have a laugh with chapter 22.

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CR: I take it that meant you were not impressed.

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Prongs: Twisted, eh?


	21. Turmoil and Treachery

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Turmoil and Treachery

Chapter 21

Nothing was going according to plan! While Ginny had pretended to listen to her, Hermione knew that the message had not been heeded. 

Ginny had been hurt more than Hermione had previously imagined. She seemed under the impression that Holly's existence prevented her from developing her relationship with Harry any further. She had even taken off Harry's ring. That was definitely _not_ good.

To make matters worse, Gudrun had called Matt's bluff, wishing him and Heidi all the best. Even now, after a week, there were no signs of Gudrun changing her mind. Needless to say, Matt had been devastated, and Mary hadn't talked to her mum since. However, the silent treatment was loads better than the venomous glances the little girl had shot Heidi over the past eight days. 

Matt had gone about his duties listlessly, and Hermione had been forced to do most of the preliminary planning for their little trip to the Caer Sidi estate, where they would take inventory of all the treasures in the vault. They'd also have to find out whether the treasure could be moved to a more secure location.

They had been ready to go the day before, but Doc, who would be designing and casting the security charms, had been called away on a big family emergency. Apparently his youngest brother, Quark, had tried to sell their mother into slavery. Since no one nearly as skilled as Doc had been available, they'd been forced to wait another day for the half-goblin to finish his family business.

"He can't help it, really," Doc said. He was busy picking a complicated magic-proof lock to keep in practice. "The teasing we got from the goblin children about being half human has always bothered him more than the rest of us. He's trying to overcompensate by out-goblining the most ruthless goblins. Precept of Procurement ninety-eight: 'Sell your own mother, if it'll turn a profit.' Problem is, Mum's human."

"Ninety-eight? I'm somewhat familiar with the Precepts of Procurement." Aberforth, who had also decided to tag along, frowned. "I thought ninety-eight was: 'Never sleep with the boss's sister.'"

"Oh no, it used to be." Doc nodded. "But they revised the Precepts about twenty years ago and added twenty-one new ones. These days, 'Never sleep with the boss's sister' is one hundred and twelve."

"What about the boss's wife?" Hermione asked out of curiosity. "Do the goblins have rules for that too?"

"Of course. In fact, 'Never sleep with the boss's wife' is the fifth Precept of Procurement. Goblins only marry their daughters off to the most successful goblins. Hence, having a wife is the ultimate symbol of financial achievement. It would be bad form for some other goblin to be pawing the owner's property."

Hermione's eyes narrowed. What did Doc mean with _property_?

"Same goes for humans," Aberforth smiled, "although financial achievement isn't the primary reason they get married. By the way, do goblins ever re-marry if they survive their partner?"

"If they can afford it," Doc answered.

"How so?" Hermione asked, feeling more irritated by the second. She knew that goblin females were oppressed, but she'd had no idea they were bought and sold like slaves.

"Second wives are an expensive proposition," Doc explained. "Having a second wife, either simultaneously with, or after the passing of the first wife, would be the ultimate status symbol. It would be a trophy wife in every sense of the word. Only the richest goblins do this, so the fathers of the prospective brides really hike up the prices."

"Fascinating." Aberforth nodded, although Hermione thought _disgusting_ would have been a better word. "What about you, Doc? Do you have your eye on a girl?"

"Girls…" Doc shrugged. "The powers that be didn't exactly hand me the best tools to break into _that _vault. While they envy the fact that I can do magic, goblins see my career choice as a joke. I make a decent living, but for a society in which material wealth is everything, it isn't good enough."

"What about witches?" Hermione asked.

Doc gave her an odd look. "The odds of meeting a woman who likes ugly half-goblins is negligible."

"There's your mother," Aberforth pointed out. "There might be more witches like her."

"True, but as I said, the odds are rather slim. Besides, I'm more attracted to goblin girls." The complicated locking mechanism popped open, and Doc nodded with satisfaction. He glanced at Aberforth. "What about you, Aberforth? Ever been married?"

Aberforth smiled sadly and shook his head. "I was engaged to a woman…a fellow Ranger. But she died before we had a chance to be together."

"I'm sorry," Hermione said quietly.

"Well, that was over a century ago." Aberforth shrugged. "I choose to remember the good times we had together."

"And you never fancied anyone else?"

"Of course I have. But as I advanced in rank I tended to concentrate on my work. I had a few relationships every now and then, but the women couldn't cope with my lifestyle. After I retired, everyone thought I was crazy, so that didn't exactly make things easy either. I once suggested to Minerva McGonagall that we ought to get together." Aberforth chuckled. "Left her speechless, that did. It must have been embarrassing."

"You _are_ old enough to be her grandfather."

"It wasn't the age difference. It was my supposed insanity," Aberforth insisted. "Did you know that Poppy Pomfrey had a little crush on Albus? And _he's _old enough to be her grandfather too. I thought they'd make a nice couple. I even sent Albus a pair of earmuffs I knew would be a big hit with her…"

Hermione shook her head. Maybe Aberforth wasn't insane in the sense that he couldn't function in society, but he was definitely a pleasantly disturbed old warlock.

"I'm getting bored," Aberforth said after a while. "How long until we reach Caer Sidi?"

Hermione checked her watch. "Four hours."

"That long? We've got to kill time. I know a game. I'll look around the cargo hold and pick an object. You'll have to guess what it is! All right, here goes. I spy, I spy with my little eye, something that begins with a B."

Hermione looked around. The whole cargo hold was filled with all sorts of boxes. "A box?" she ventured.

"Right! I spy, I spy with my little eye, something that begins with an M."

Hermione frowned. There was nothing she could see that would begin with an M.

"More boxes," Doc guessed.

"Correct!" Aberforth cheered. "That's one each! All right, I spy, I spy with my little eye, something that begins with an E."

Hermione decided that she wasn't going to dignify that one with an answer, and she called down a levitation square that would take her to the upper level.

"Anyone?" Aberforth asked.

"Even more boxes, you crazy old—" The rest of Doc's answer was cut off from Hermione's hearing as she reached the upper level.

Rachel Esklove sat at the controls of the Cruiser. She'd trained ceaselessly in learning how to pilot the Cruiser, and she seemed to have mastered it in record time. Captain Yee, the Chief Artificer Ranger, had expressed enough faith in her abilities to allow her go on the mission, as long as Doc, who was an auxiliary artificer, would be supervising. Clearly the half-goblin trusted Rachel enough to let her fly the cruiser by herself.

Her sisters, Danielle and Sarah, who had also been assigned to help out, were asking her all sorts of questions about the Cruiser. Commander Nomvete had decided that an assignment like this was a perfect opportunity for these raw recruits to learn about field missions without exposing them to any actual danger.

"Where's Matt?" Hermione asked.

Danielle pointed to the back of the Cruiser, where the small sickbay was located.

When Hermione peeked in, she found Matt stretched out on the bed. "Feeling okay?"

"Just thinking."

"About Gudrun?"

Matt nodded.

Hermione sat on the edge of the bed and looked at Matt. "Listen, you shouldn't give up yet. Lieutenant Cliff thinks that you and Gudrun might be Twin Flames."

"She told me." Matt nodded. "That doesn't mean that we're going to end up together, though. Maybe we're just supposed to be friends after all. I'd rather have her as a friend, so I'm not going mess that up by forcing this issue any longer."

Hermione sighed. Gudrun's feelings for Matt definitely went beyond friendship. She'd seen how Gudrun behaved when Matt had been asleep. "She's in love with you."

"I don't want to think about her," Matt said with a tone of finality. "Thinking about her hurts. I spontaneously get a headache every time I do. But I can't help it. Every waking moment when I'm not doing something that requires all my concentration, I think about her. When I'm asleep, I dream about her."

"And what do you dream about?"

"I see us together in quiet times. When we've dealt with the biggest threats to the world and we can just argue and wonder what to do next. Deciding to do things together. I saw…" Matt's voice broke and his eyes grew tearful. "I saw myself introducing her to my family, and saw them make a place for her in their hearts and their lives. I'm sure things would have gone differently in reality, if they'd met under different circumstances. Dad might have been an ass about it, but I'm sure Gudrun would have changed his mind in the end.

"I saw hundreds of great possibilities for our life together, and the only thing that saddened me was that we couldn't live them all. I used to have dreams where Gudrun and I were walking along a beach where I used to surf, our tracks in the sand, side by side."

"Why didn't you tell her all this?" Hermione asked.

"She wouldn't believe me. She told me there's no way I could really love her like I say I do. But I feel like I've known her forever. I remember all these little things about her, like what her favourite food is, her favourite colour, what kind of music she listens too. And I didn't even have to try. They just stuck with me. I've never bothered to remember all that about any other woman."

Hermione patted his knee. "If you tell her exactly what you've told me just now, I can't imagine her _not_ changing her mind."

"You think so?"

"Yes, I do. And I have a very active imagination."

Matt smiled ruefully. "Great, now I've got my hopes up again. Why do I have the feeling that I'll just wipe out again."

"Wipe out?"

"Surfing term."

"Oh." Hermione decided that it would be best to change the topic, and surfing was just as good as any subject. "I understand you used to live near Never Never. That's far inland. How did you ever pick up a hobby like surfing?"

"_Hobby_?" Matt looked insulted. "It isn't a hobby. It's a sport and art all rolled into one. There's nothing quite like riding a monster wave. I rode a huge one once…one so big that wiping out would likely end in death because you'd be crushed inside the waves. For those brief moments, I felt like a god."

"All right, I'm _sorry_." Hermione smiled. "It isn't a hobby. But you still haven't answered my question."

"I didn't take up surfing in Australia. I lived in Australia until I was about four. Then we moved to Oahu in Hawaii, because my dad had established his corporate headquarters there. I body-boarded until I was nine. Then I moved onto real surfing. I used to spend both holidays surfing. Winter is the best time to catch waves, because of the swells caused by storms. But I surfed in summer too. The waves are less impressive, but it's still fun. My dad hated me for it. He said it was a waste of time."

"That's funny. You never told me you lived in Hawaii."

"Dad's got a house on every continent."

"_Every_ continent?" Hermione smirked. "Even Antarctica?"

"He owns a cabin there."

"What on earth for?"

"He liked to hunt Ice-worms. His idea of an exciting safari," Matt answered. "I think I'll sell the cabin. It's cruel to hunt Ice-worms." 

Hermione shook her head. Unbelievable, how these rich purebloods killed innocent Ice-worms for sport. She remembered Malfoy gloating about attending a hunt. At least Matt didn't seem to endorse it. 

She smiled. Matt was really a nice bloke, now that he wasn't obnoxious anymore. Either way, he'd never let his wealth got to his head. That took a lot of character. Hopefully Gudrun would wake up and smell… _Oahu_?

Her mouth went dry, and she carefully cast a glance at Matt. His eyes were closed, so she held her gaze. Did Gudrun know that Matt had lived there? Had Matt known John? Was it possible that he and John _were_ the same person? The ages matched, as did their looks, save for the hair and eye colour.

But those could be changed. She remembered the question Ron had asked Matt's mum, and the explanation.

"_After he was nine, we just cast a cosmetic charm on his eyes before he mingled with Muggles_."

No, it simply wasn't possible. When Gudrun met John, she had been part of the wizarding world long enough to identify a wizard when she saw one. But that brought up another thing Lynette had told Hermione about her sons. 

"_In fact, to confuse potential evildoers further, we raised our boys to be convincing Muggles. They grew up with toy broomsticks, but they also watched Saturday morning cartoons on television._ _Nathan could put on a decent show after a few years, but Matt took to it like a fish to water…within months, he became indistinguishable from Muggle children._"

Hermione's heart was pounding like crazy and she struggled to keep her breathing even. Mary's smile…her strut…her rebelliousness towards a parent. Was it coincedence, or was she just her father's daughter?

"Matt…" She paused to erase the squeak in her voice.

"Yes, Hermione?" Matt opened his eyes. "Are you all right? You don't look so well."

She didn't feel well. This whole issue was turning her stomach upside down. "Just a little nauseous. I think I'm airsick," she lied.

Matt frowned. "That's funny. The Cruisers are charmed to make their flight unnoticeable to their passengers. Maybe this one needs an overhaul. We should tell Doc…"

"It could be something I ate," Hermione said quickly. "Listen, can I ask you something?"

"Ask away, as long as it isn't too personal." Matt smiled.

Hermione blushed. It was sort of personal, but there was no other way to ask. "Your mum told me that someone tried to kidnap you and Nathan when you were toddlers. She also told me that they took certain measures to protect you from harm. Did they also change the way you looked?"

"Oh yeah! They changed our eyes, obviously. Purple and feline eyes aren't exactly low profile. Usually they also gave us a different hair colour and put a wave or some curls into them. I didn't look too bad as a brunet" Matt grinned. "And in extreme cases, we were just Polyjuiced. Why?"

"No reason, really. I just thought it would be a good idea to consider these things. I've made quite a few enemies, and my future children might need some protection."

Matt's face lit up. "Are you pregnant?"

Hermione shook her head, suddenly overtaken by sadness. "No…n-not yet."

Matt's face fell. "Oh, sorry. I didn't mean to bring it up. Don't worry though. Lilia told me, and _everyone else_, about Ron's sample. What were the words she used again? Ah yes, 'Ron could knock up the barren soil of Azkaban if he gave it a try, '" he said, straining his voice to imitate Lilia's soprano voice.

Hermione smiled weakly and hoped that Ron wouldn't find out about Lilia's comments. She opened her mouth again, but closed it immediately. Confronting Matt with this was a bad idea. If he and John Smith _were_ indeed the same person, surely he would have had good reason not to tell Gudrun, wouldn't he?

There was only one way to find out discreetly. And for that she needed help from a fellow Medical Ranger.

*

__

'I know you can only see the negative right now,' Hermione had argued. _'You need to remember the positive! There's light whenever you and Harry connect. He didn't have that with Heidi, and I'm sure he didn't have that with Carey either. Ginny, the only reason he got together with Carey in the first place was because she reminded him of you. Not so much in looks, but in behaviour. He was very vulnerable at the time. I'm sure he never would have done anything with Carey if his life hadn't been a mess.'_

'And whose fault is that?' Ginny had asked quietly. _'It's my own fault. He wouldn't have been vulnerable to begin with if I hadn't rejected him when he needed me the most. That's when I lost him. If I had been there for Harry, if he'd had just one more supporter, would he have felt so crushed in spirit that he felt he had no choice but to become a Ranger, just to get away from us? …And if he hadn't been a Ranger, he wouldn't have become involved with Heidi or this Carey. And Holly wouldn't even exist. _**I'd**_ be married to Harry now, and _**I'd**_ be having his children! But it's too late now.'_

'You shouldn't drive yourself crazy with those thoughts. If Harry hadn't become a Ranger, Padma would be dead, and maybe quite a few Rangers. There are advantages and disadvantages to every twist of fate. But more importantly, it isn't too late!'

Ginny shook her head. If only Hermione knew what it meant for a man to have a child…more importantly, the first child with someone else, like Aria had said. It placed a mark on a relationship, a mark that would never go away, and would always continue influencing the relationship.

Her thoughts were interrupted by the buzzing sound of a communications Mirror in the small office adjacent to the lab. "Natasha, please keep an eye on that restorative for me!"

The nurse nodded, and Ginny was relieved that she had got the name right. Since she spent a lot of time among the artificers, she didn't know the non-Ranger personnel as well as the others. 

Non-Ranger personnel came to the Citadel by Portkey from a location outside Concordia, and they were rotated as unpredictably as possible. Moreover, once inside the Citadel, they would take another Portkey straight to their workstation. They couldn't wander around the Citadel. So even if the enemy managed to find out who they were and get at one of them, they wouldn't be of much use. A rigorous screening preceding every shift in the Citadel went a long way to ensure that they were clean. Ginny knew that the commanders would rather do without them entirely, but that would increase the workload of the Rangers even more.

Ginny tapped the screen, coming face to face with Hermione. She frowned. Had Hermione called her to argue Harry's case for him again? "What's the matter?"

"Nothing…" Hermione did her best to keep her voice down. "I just need a favour."

There was something odd about Hermione's demeanour. "You sound like you want me to break the rules!" Ginny said, and Hermione's guilty blush showed that she must have touched a nerve.

"Don't be ridiculous. This transmission is being monitored. I just don't want someone at my end to hear this. I need you to find Mary's blood sample. It's a sub-file under Gudrun. Do you know how to find it?"

"Just a moment…" Ginny pressed a button under the side of the desk, and a large panel with several rune keys and other controls slid upwards. She divided the screen in half, limiting Hermione's face to one half and using the second half to pull up. Gudrun's file. "What do you need it for?"

"I need you to run a paternity spell on it."

Ginny grimaced. _Paternity_…she really didn't want to be thinking about that. "I need the supposed father's blood for that too."

"I know. Use Matt's."

Ginny started at the mirror screen incredulously. "Hermione, it crossed my mind too, but seriously—"

"Did you know Matt moved from Australia to Oahu when he was four? He went to school in Australia, but he spent his holidays on Oahu…_surfing_! His mum told me Matt and Nathan were taught to emulate Muggles as a safety precaution, after someone tried to kidnap them when they were children. They also changed their appearances…just indulge me!" Hermione hissed.

Ginny shook her head and drew up Matt's file. Then she looked up where she could find the blood samples in storage. As she did so, the screen listed information about the blood. Second nature took over and she briefly scanned the data. "I'm looking at the information about their blood, Hermione. I don't have to use the spell to determine that Matt isn't Mary's father. Mary's an A negative and Gudrun is an O negative. Matt's a _B_ negative, so he can't be the father. Mary's father has to be—" 

"An A or an AB," Hermione finished disappointedly.

"Right." Ginny nodded.

"I guess it _was_ too weird to be true." Hermione sighed. "Thanks anyway."

"You're welcome." Ginny nodded before Hermione's face faded away. She was about to get up, when Commander Ironheart's face appeared in front of her.

"Ah, Miss Weasley, good! How would you like to assist Lieutenant Montoya with a special assignment? The botanical gardens are about to release their first batch of Miraculum Weed, and we're going to test the effects of the Miraculum-enriched Wolfsbane Potion on regular werewolves."

"Why bother? It won't cure them, right?"

Ironheart nodded. "I've been told that the potion only cures bite victims if administered before the next full moon. However, the weed boosts the potency of the potion enormously. And wouldn't it be fun to find out what the effects are?"

Ginny smiled. This sounded like something Hermione would love to do. But Ginny preferred to work on her project down in the maintenance bay. "I was hoping to tackle some problems that arose in the mech performance simulations. Gudrun is counting on me. And this werewolf project will take months, won't it?"

"Actually, someone came up with the ingenious plan to spread the experiment out over the world with various subjects, so we can make the maximum amount of progress in one night. However, you are right, the project will take several full moons. I just thought I'd ask you, since Remus Lupin is one of the volunteers. Since the next full moon is December 30th, I'll grant you a couple of extra days off so you can spend New Year with your family, since you'd be in England anyway."

It was very nice of Commander Ironheart to offer her this chance. But she couldn't face her family now, and she didn't think the humiliation would be any less in a month. "Can I think about it?" she asked, feeling herself grow uncomfortably warm under Ironheart's stare. Could he read minds through the mirror as well?

"Of course. I'm not handing out new assignments yet."

"Thank you, Commander."

"You're welcome. And Miss Weasley?"

"Yes?"

"Forget everything my wife might told you. She meant well, but she's wrong. There's a huge difference in your situation with Harry, and mine with my wife. _You're_ the one Harry is meant to be with. There's true love there. My wife and I have reached an understanding over the years. She's one strong woman, never taking out the bitterness caused by my actions on our children, and I respect her for that. But our marriage was wrong _to begin with_. I married her to avert a bloody family feud.

"I know Holly's appearance seems like an attack on your relationship with Harry, but perhaps it could be a blessing in disguise. Harry's never had blood relatives who cared about him. It may actually do him a lot of good. Think about that."

Ginny sat stock still in the chair, minutes after Ironheart's face had faded from the mirror screen, waiting for the emotional anguish to come. But she felt surprisingly numb. Her eyes drifted to the finger that Harry's ring used to encircle. He had said that the diamond would always glow brightly as long as she loved Harry. But it had shattered from the inside out. Did that mean she no longer loved Harry?

*

Hermione was actually glad that her suspicions had been the result of an overactive imagination. If Matt actually had been John, it would have raised a lot of new questions. However, given the fact that they'd both surfed on the same island and were the same age, maybe Matt knew John. 

Could she ask Matt about him though? What would she say if he asked her why she wanted to know? _Oh, he's Mary's father and Gudrun wants to find him and tell him about her._

That answer was no good. It might lead Matt to believe that John was a rival worth considering. After all, Gudrun never told him about John and Hermione strongly suspected it was because Gudrun still had some feelings for the father of her child deep down, no matter how brief their time together might have been. This could also be contributing to Gudrun's refusal to have Matt's child.

"We're here!" Rachel Esklove called out.

Hermione looked out of the large viewport and saw the island rise out of the sea. Glancing at the Cruiser's control panel, she saw the Cruiser's magic detectors light up as they picked up the heavy illusion and interdiction charms that prevented Muggles from seeing and reaching the island.

Just then, Doc rose out of the cargo hold and skipped over to the co-pilot's console. He plopped down into the chair. "Send out a detection pulse to probe for anything unusual."

"Sending," Rachel reported.

"All clear," Sarah said after a few seconds.

"All right, maintain invisibility and set her down by those rocks!"

Rachel grinned and shoved the yoke forward. The Cruiser's nose dipped dangerously low and they started losing altitude fast. However, the due to the charms that dampened inertia, Hermione didn't feel a thing. The sight of the ground rushing up to meet them was still unnerving, and she heaved a sigh of relief the Cruiser drew level with only ten feet to spare.

Doc raised his eyebrows at Rachel. "Ten whole feet? Is that supposed to scare me?"

"As if you can do better," Rachel challenged.

"Take her to a thousand feet and I'll show you how it's done, little girl."

"Some other time, Docmor," Hermione pleaded. "Besides, we have work to do."

"Another time then." Doc grinned. "Where's Matt?"

"I'm here," Matt answered as he came out of the sick bay. "Who's coming along?"

"Rachel and Sarah will remain on the Cruiser," Hermione began, but groans from the people in question made it clear that they didn't agree. "You need to keep an eye out for danger from here. It's really important."

"Why does Danielle get to go?" Sarah complained. 

"Isn't it obvious? Because I'm better than you two," the third triplet answered.

"Relax," Doc said soothingly. "You two are staying because you're more valuable here. Maybe Matt will take you into the vault after we're done here."

"Don't worry, sis, I'll take pictures," Danielle teased.

Sarah scowled and muttered something under her breath.

"That's enough, children," Doc announced. "Aberforth will remain behind as well. Hermione, Matt, Danielle…let's move out."

They grabbed their gear, which consisted mostly of means to take inventory of all the artefacts inside the vault. Knowing there were Apparition wards on the island, they then activated their personal Portkeys set to the co-ordinates just outside the Cruiser.

They hadn't walked thirty paces, before six Ministry wizards challenged them. A security force had been introduced after the Kellys' deaths.

Ironheart had announced their visit to a few trusted people within the Ministry. While the people Ironheart knew were trustworthy, the same could not be said for all their colleagues, so while these wizards might have known about their visit, they didn't know exactly why they were visiting. Their cover was an inspection, which was partially true. 

"What's the password?" the lead wizard asked gruffly.

"Lord of the castle," Matt answered gloomily.

The wizards relaxed and lowered their wands. "Welcome to Caer Sidi. Please go around the castle and use the second entrance. We're keeping the main entrance closed for security reasons."

That said, they went around and made their way to the other side of the castle and entered through an archway with a heavy stone door. The grooves in the floor indicated that it slid into place to close off the doorway.

"Stop!" Doc said suddenly, peering intently at the floor. "Those markings etched…anti-teleportation square!" he gasped and went for his wand.

"_Stupefy!" _an angry voice screamed, followed by several others. 

As she lost consciousness, Hermione realised that they had walked into a trap.

***

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Foxfur: If Harry can turn Max back to the side of light before he dies? LOL, it's really funny that you mention it like that. The next chapter will explain what's so funny.

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Gogirl: You know what they say; the opposite of love isn't hate, but indifference. Obi-Wan…not exactly, LOL.

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BigDaddy753: I thank you for the review, no matter how brief.

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crazyfriendsfan: Yeah, poor Ginny. Speaking of which; there's an article about an interview with J.K. Rowling when she's asked if Harry will even notice Ginny, to which her answer is something like 'Poor Ginny, eh?' As the OoTP draws ever closer, I keep getting the feeling that it could very well be Ginny who will die. :-(

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StarWest45: Even Hermione can't solve everything.

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Bane: Hmm, maybe the chapters are getting a little shorter, but not much. Don't worry, I'll never drop below 4,000 words.

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Hannah: Oh, c'mon, you're not being fair to poor Ginny. Being in love with Harry isn't easy. ;-)

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Lady Reaper of the Shadows: The significance is open to interpretation.

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amy: Ginny got the ring in chapter 16, I think.

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nycgal: There will be plenty of triplet presence in the near future.

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CR: Still bored?

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The.grey.lady: I thought I'd been clear enough about Ironheart…apparently not, since you're not the only one who asked about it. Yes, Holly is the winged creature Ironheart was tracking down. Draconians can sprout wings at will.

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Lord Dreadnault: True, but it still hurts.

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LadySiri: Keep hoping.

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Lioness-07863: Every question will be answered in time.

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Lamina Court: That seems to be the question; why did the diamond shatter?

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jona: Be afraid!

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Maverick Davis: The connection can't be broken, for better or for worse.

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Maab: Escaflowne…^-^ you have no idea!

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GothQueen: I know. That's why I'll reduce the twists and bombshells and start lengthening the chapters.

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Casual Reader: Theories, eh?

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Petals: It can get much worse.

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James: I updated, I updated!

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Jemima Blue: Jacqueline Hyde, got it. And yeah, I do enjoy making the character's lives miserable.


	22. Rescue and Reprieve

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Rescue and Reprieve

Chapter 22

"He got away?" Draco bellowed. "How could he have got away, you incompetent idiot?"

"He was fast! But the curse bounced off his wrist Portkey and destroyed it. He lost his grip on his wand when that happened!" the wizard offered stupidly. But Draco already knew that. He'd seen it in the minion's dull mind, for the dosage of Dust he'd taken was still active.

"He's helpless. He can't make his way across open ground without being seen. We'll get him if he tries it," another wizard said confidently.

"If there's anything I learned, it's to never underestimate a Ranger! Anastasiou's Bloodhounds told me that he's very skilled." Draco kicked the vault door to vent his frustration. His day had begun so well, when he found himself standing amid the treasure of Caer Sidi. There weren't piles of gold, but there were many glass containers displaying hundreds of magical rings and jewellery. Another section contained a vast selection of crystal wands with various capabilities, and the armoury was filled with bejewelled magical sceptres and magical weapons.

In the old days, these weapons had actually been wielded in combat. They were far less versatile than magic wands, but according to legend their attacks could cause a whole lot of devastation. Draco had a feeling that a number of these weapons might have destroyed Voldemort, like Gryffindor's sword had done. No wonder Voldemort had wanted to take control of these vaults through Draco's family. But then his grandfather had mysteriously disappeared and with him Voldemort's chance of entering the vault.

Voldemort succeeded in killing the Archidiaconus family, except for Lynette Archidiaconus. Draco suspected her husband must have had something to so with his grandfather's disappearance. In a way, Draco could relate to and respect the late Byron Kelly. The wizard had been ruthless and relentless in his acquisition of wealth and power. He concluded that the man had been stupid to allow his wife to influence and weaken him like she did. 

With the help of Yamato's newest Confundus Amulets, they'd managed to sneak onto the island without being detected. Dispatching the Ministry wizards had been easy enough, and with the help of Mind Dust, a faster-acting and more potent alternative to the earlier potion, Draco managed to extract all the relevant information out of the wizards' minds. 

Veritaserum only helped if one knew what kind of questions to ask. A general question about any secret plans the Ministry of Magic might have had would have yielded too much irrelevant information and would have taken way too much time. Luckily, the foremost thing on the mind of the first wizard they'd interrogated was the arrival of a certain inspection team that should have arrived earlier, and could be identified with a password: 'Lord of the castle.'

Draco smirked. The title was rather appropriate. _He _was the lord now…or he would have been, if his "help" hadn't been so extremely incompetent. They allowed Matthew Kelly, the only wizard who could endanger his continued access to this magnificent vault, to escape. But it didn't matter. Draco already had a plan. 

He chuckled derisively at the three unconscious forms lying at his feet. One of them he didn't know…a girl. He recognised the grotesque half-goblin from the wedding ceremony. Somehow, they'd found out about some of the transgressions Draco had committed, and this goblin had been a part of the group of Rangers who had arranged that disaster…no…temporary setback, Draco corrected himself. Nevertheless, he was going to enjoy taking this fool apart piece by piece.

But the greatest satisfaction came from the third limp form at his feet. The bitch who had made his life miserable on more than one occasion. He wouldn't kill _her,_ at least, not physically, but mentally. He'd leave her here in the vault, her once-so-_overrated_ mind in shambles. Draco smirked. She'd had her share of Cruciatus Curses in the past. Perhaps it was time to get her reacquainted with those curses. The world's most clever witch, twenty-two ordinary wizarding levels. He chuckled derisively. He'd leave behind a drooling husk with the intellect of a worm.

"_Enervate_!" he said as he pointed his wand at her bound form. Her eyes slowly opened and she rolled onto her back and looked around before settling on him.

"Malfoy!" she spat. "I thought I recognised your foul stench."

"Charming to the last," Draco sneered. "I do hope the weasel will appreciate the changes when I'm done with you. But first, you need to tell me where Mr Kelly could have gone."

Oh so predictably, she didn't say anything. Draco chuckled gleefully. She didn't have to. Her thoughts strayed to Kelly and the other Rangers who were still on the loose. They had brought one of their ships with them. It was located beside a formation of boulders about a stone's throw away from the castle proper. "It seems we don't have much time, gentlemen. Nkromo, Kim, set up the components of Mr Yamato's portal. Rigaud, Martinez, Machlas, put on invisibility cloaks and your special goggles. The Ranger ship is sitting near the cluster of rocks east of the castle." 

To his satisfaction, Granger's expression became one of horror as he casually revealed what she'd been thinking.

"Bring as many curse capsules with explosive curses as you can carry," he continued. "Blow it up and head back here so we can consolidate our position." He glared at his remaining henchmen, Dermail, Mooki, Manahutu and Tubarov. "You can redeem your incompetence by searching for Kelly. We don't need him alive. Kill him on sight. And for pity's sake, don't split up. I'm sure he'll pick you apart if you do."

He turned towards the wizards who were setting up the portal. "While the portal is charging, we'll begin gathering our new belongings for transport. The weapons have first priority. Then we move on to the jewelled staffs." This had been Anastasiou's wish, and Draco resented the vampire a little for that. If it had been up to Draco, the weapons could be left behind in favour of the jewellery. As the portal opened, more people would pour into the vault from the other side. Curse breakers and other kinds of experts that would remove the security charms that had been placed on the containers that held the treasure. He'd discovered this when the individual containers wouldn't open upon his touch. Clearly counter-charms or passwords of some sort were needed. Even so, they could have those cleaned out in less than an hour.

Feeling Granger's stare boring at the back of his head, he turned to face her. "Yes, I _can_ read your mind. I think I'll tell the remaining Rangers that you betrayed them, right before I kill them. I'm glad Aberforth Dumbledore is among them. I know about his little charade of insanity. It would be my pleasure to kill him too… The last Dumbledore!"

He revelled in the shock that coursed through her mind upon his revelation. Her mind was positively spinning and one tendril of thought in particular jumped out at him. It was something that weasel had told her, something that concerned _him_. He followed that thought to its source… Seconds later, disbelief overtook him. That wasn't possible. It was a lie! Mordred Dryden was his grandfather…not some adulterous half demon Ranger! 

But it was right there in the Mudblood's mind. Was she deliberately thinking up lies to confuse him? He did his best to detect any falsehood behind her thoughts, but none was there. So it was true. It had to be. Wolfe was his cousin…Draco's eyes widened. He was going to have to take precautions to shield himself from these powers. 

The vampires were all looking for a reason to question his loyalty and take him out of the picture. If they found out, he was sure they'd find the notion of him being a spy and having loyalty to his secret relatives just as ludicrous as he did. But they wouldn't really care. It was no secret that they wanted him dead, or as one of their ghoulish slaves. And now that he'd already given Anastasiou access to the vault, he suddenly wasn't as valuable to the vampire overlord anymore.

The portal lighting up distracted his thoughts. It had gathered enough energy to open and was doing so. The bluish light filled the vault, and moments later the specialised Curse Breakers Anastasiou had gathered walked though. Most were allies, wizards who wanted a cut of the treasure. Others were Imperius victims, the reason for whose presence Draco couldn't fathom. It was possible for Curse Breakers to work while under the spell of the Imperius, but at times the spell interfered with their analytical abilities.

Lastly, a tall figure dressed in black stepped through. The flowing cape he wore obscured most of the full body armour he was wearing and an odd-looking helmet covered his head. Darkened lenses that made it impossible to see where the wearer's eyes were trained covered the eyeholes. The mouth and nose were covered by something that resembled a filter.

*

It couldn't be true! Malfoy was a Mind Reader too? She'd thought that only _one_ descendant of a Mind Reader would inherit the gift every generation. Jasmine and Max had already disproved that theory. Exceptions were always possible. But Malfoy?

The Portal activated, opened, and the reinforcements were beginning to pour in. Hermione was panicking. Even if she managed to conceive a brilliant plan, Malfoy would read her mind and defuse it.

Hermione was instantly filled with dread as the tall figure stepped through the portal, pushing any thought of escape out of her mind. His soundless predatory gait clearly marked him as a warrior. The other wizards instinctively backed away from the figure and a deathly quiet swept through the vault until the figure's breathing was all that could be heard.

Malfoy, however, puffed out his chest in false bravado, but he was obviously nervous. "So Anastasiou has lost his mind. Doesn't realise how much of a liability you—"

Suddenly Malfoy choked and started to turn purple under the dark-clad wizard's wand-less spell… at least, Hermione assumed he was a wizard, since the clutching gesture he was making seemed to lift Malfoy off the floor in addition to cutting off his breath.

"I find your lack of faith disturbing." The wizard's voice still seemed to boom despite being distorted by the helmet. 

A small man emerged from the bluish light next and caught the armoured wizard disciplining Malfoy.

"That's enough! Release him!"

"As you wish…" the wizard said indifferently and released Malfoy from his spell.

Malfoy collapsed into the floor and drew in a few wheezing breaths. "Keep that thing on a tighter leash!" he growled, massaging his throat.

"I might, or I might not." The smaller wizard, clearly Asian, spoke in clipped tones as he lectured Malfoy. "You need to learn not to provoke your betters."

Malfoy muttered a response under his breath before he asked, "How long is a single dose of Dust supposed to work?"

"It varies per individual," the Asian, Hermione guessed it was the elusive Yamato, answered. "Three to four hours. How many doses did you take?"

"Excuse me," Malfoy said, turning to Hermione and drawing his wand. "Can't have you remembering all that, now can we? I suppose Obliviating you would be the best thing to do. But where's the fun in that?" he asked blithely. "I understand torture can truly harm one's memory too. _Crucio_!"

The agony passed through marrow and bone. She'd been hit with the curse before, but one never got used to the pain it caused.

"It is said that prolonged exposure to the Cruciatus Curse actually caused physical damage to the spot where the curse touches the body," Malfoy chuckled with glee. "I wasn't fortunate enough to be there when my father and the others put you in your place, Mudblood. They didn't leave out any of the details, though. You bled, didn't you? Have any unfortunate side effects? My source told me the weasel is having trouble impregnating you…"

How could Malfoy possibly have known about that? She hadn't exactly spread the news. She had to warn the others!

"Oh, don't worry about that!" Malfoy grinned. "By the time I'm done with you, you won't be able to think coherently, much less warn anybody! But before we get to that I still have some other uses for you. I wonder what the weasel will say if those Ranger doctors find someone else's fluids inside your barren womb."

Hermione forced a harsh laugh. "As I recall, you no longer have what it takes…not that you ever had." 

As she said that, Malfoy's eyes bulged out of their sockets and some of the wizards around him guffawed.

"Haven't you ever wondered why Goyle was never there when you returned to the Slytherin common room after your interludes with Pansy? She kept him on retainer to make up for your disappointing performances."

"Shut up!" Malfoy screamed, livid. Then he regained his composure and smirked haughtily. "I've been restored to full capacity, if you must know."

"Whyever did you bother?" Hermione asked innocently. "You didn't know how to use it, so I reckon you'd have been better off without it." 

This time Malfoy didn't take the bait, though. But that was okay. As long as she kept his attention focussed on him, Matt would have a chance to get some sort of plan…

"Oh, trying to stall me, are you?" Malfoy smirked. "Don't bother. Kelly won't be alive much longer. And this is a little reward for your cleverness…_Crucio_!" Mercifully, he didn't hold the curse for very long, but the taunting continued. "Besides, I would never stain myself by doing it with a Mudblood!" He turned to the small Asian wizard. "Can you send your pet to deal with a runaway Ranger?"

"I'm afraid I want to keep Maximus close, for the time being."

"Maximus?" Malfoy smirked. "That's its name now? How deliciously ironic! However, if he's as good as you claim him to be, I must insist, Yamato."

"I'm afraid not," Yamato shook his head. "I orchestrated the recent annihilation of his family. I need the best bodyguard available. But why waste valuable resources looking for him? You have hostages!" the Japanese wizard pointed out, gesturing to the floor.

As her pain cleared away, Hermione got a chance to look at the dark figure. He looked to be about six-foot-five, though the helmet and the boots seemed to add about an inch or two to his height. Beyond that there wasn't that much to discover. But there was something about him, it nagged at the back of her mind.

Then it struck her. It was the one from the prophecy, the one that had Lieutenant Cliff so shaken up. The dark general! It had to be him. Not many wizards were capable of a wand-less constriction curse like that. It took a special kind of training as well as a certain amount of raw power. This wizard seemed to have both.

"If you're thinking that threatening us will bring Matt to you, you're sorely mistaken!" Hermione hissed. "He knows there are too many lives at stake."

The Japanese wizard gave a superior smile. "It depends _how _we make him aware of the fact. True, if we ask him to surrender or else, he won't respond. But if we phrase it a bit differently, he _will_ react."

A loud explosion rang out over the island, penetrating the castle walls. Malfoy smirked.

"It would seem that your vessel has just been made inoperable, with the other Rangers in it."

"They'll have called for backup." Hermione warned. "We were supposed to report in after five minutes, and Matt must have done so!"

Malfoy chuckled. "Thanks to Yamato's anti-magic field generator, Matt's broadcaster is useless. Yes, we _are _using magic, but the device can be set to disrupt specific enchantment as well. Not that it matters. I can tell you were lying, and bad little Mudbloods must be punished…_Crucio_!"

She didn't know how long the cursing went on. She'd lost all conception of time as her thoughts were scrambled to random impulses. But she knew it must have gone on for a long time, and she was nearly numb when Malfoy finally stopped. Her bound limbs were trembling, and she knew they'd be little good to her even if her bonds were removed. She finally lost the struggle to remain conscious and lost herself into timeless oblivion. 

But someone didn't want her to stay that way, because an insistent voice kept calling her name. She wanted to swat the annoying voice away, but she had trouble moving her arm. She laboriously opened her eyes and saw Matt Kelly's handsome face. His expression was one of worry.

"Thank heavens, you're awake. Aberforth, Doc, Danielle, she's coming to!" he whispered.

Hermione was utterly confused. Had it all been a nightmare? "Where are we?"

"This place has lots of hidden rooms and passages. Nathan and I spent a whole summer mapping out the ones we could find, when we were twelve. The bad guys weren't quite as thorough as they thought!"

"How'd you get us free?"

Matt gently helped her to a sitting position. He nodded to three old house-elves that bowed "Happy, Grumpy, Dopey and Sneezy helped me. They're the resident house-elves here. They've been hiding in the secret corridors and rooms ever since my parents were killed. Luckily for us, the bad guys didn't know about them. They helped me dispatch the wizards who blew up the cruiser and rescue Aberforth and the girls. We used their invisibility cloaks to sneak in the vault and get you, Doc and Danielle out."

"Where's the fourth elf?" Hermione only saw three elves, while she'd heard four names.

"Grumpy's spying on the bad guys. Are you okay? You're bleeding."

Hermione looked down. She couldn't see anything. "Where?"

"Uh, further south. Is it that time of the month?"

Hermione _had _been expecting her period, but as she touched her breeches she concluded that she'd lost an awful lot of blood. Her lower back was hurting as well. This had to be due to Malfoy's cursing. He'd aimed at her midsection, like his father had. She knew what he had said had been true. The Cruciatus _did _damage physically if maintained long enough. 

That thought sent panic surging through her. There was obviously some damage. What if this additional damage had rendered her completely infertile? Whereas she'd had a slim chance of conceiving before, that chance would now be dashed to pieces. Instinctively, her hand slid down her belly and covered the skin over her uterus. Even the light pressure of her hand caused a slight stab of pain. Something was dreadfully wrong. But as she looked at Aberforth, who was pressing a piece of cloth against a head wound, and Rachel and Sarah Esklove, who were unconscious and badly bruised, she realised that they needed her help and that it wasn't the time to feel sorry for herself.

"What's wrong with Rachel and Sarah?"

"As far as I can tell they're pretty banged up," Matt said. "They were inside the Cruiser when the bad guys tried to blow it up. The explosion lifted it off the ground and it landed upside down. The fuselage held, thank goodness, but the Cruiser is inoperable. There's a hole the size of a giant in the belly."

"Did you get word out that something was wrong?" Hermione asked Aberforth.

The old wizard shook his head. "They caught us by surprise. We should have detected them despite their invisibility cloaks. I don't understand…"

"They've got one of those anti-magic things, but apparently it's possible to narrow their function down to disrupting specific types of magic. Maybe that's how they were able to hide from our probe."

"They must've cranked it up to full capacity after the elves and I freed you from the vault. The wands I took from the wizards who wrecked the Cruiser don't work anymore…they took everyone's wand upon capture," Matt explained. "I found out when I tried to patch Sarah and Rachel up."

"But they're as helpless as we are!" Hermione said, trying to look at the bright side of things. However, with no magic, things weren't looking too good. She had no way of healing the injured without her wand.

"Hardly," Matt groaned. "They've got weapons, we don't. We'll have to rely on the elves for protection, and _their_ magic doesn't seem to work like it's supposed to, either. It'll only be a matter of time before they find the entrances to the secret passageways. These hidden passages aren't really all that hard to find by people trained to find them. And they've got a whole bunch of Curse Breakers in the vault." 

"Detection of hidden passages is one of the first things taught at Curse Breaker school, because so many become treasure hunters for goblins," Doc said.

"Maybe Logos can help," the oldest elf said.

"Who's Logos?" Matt frowned.

"Not who, Master Matthew…What! Logos has been the servant for the Archidiaconus since before Happy's great-great-great-great-great great-great grandmother began serving them. 'Tis an ancient golem servant, very wise. He is the guardian of Caer Sidi."

"Where is he?"

"In the vault. They put him there a hundred years ago."

"There's no way we can get past everyone in the vault to get to this golem." Doc frowned.

"Happy thinks there may be another door to the vault."

"Another door?" Matt asked incredulously.

"Happy cannot be sure. Happy couldn't open the door to see what was behind it."

"If it's another door to the vault, we may be able to get to the golem," Matt said, and looked at Happy. "Where exactly in the vault is this golem?"

"Happy doesn't know. Happy has never been in the vault, sir."

"Damn, so much for that plan." Doc growled.

"No, we can still proceed," Aberforth said. "Under the circumstances, I don't think we have much choice. We must at least find out if that door Happy is talking about leads to the vault."

A soft patter of feet announced the approach of the missing house-elf.

"What's the news?" Doc asked.

"They is all looking for us," Grumpy grumbled.

"They're not taking the treasure through that portal?" Matt asked, looking surprised.

Grumpy shook his head fervently. "Curse Breakers can't break the curses with no working wands."

"The Anti-magic filed generator is blocking them." Hermione smiled grimly. "Now that you've captured some wands, they're not risking continuing their work, lest we use these wands against them. They chose to hunt us down first."

"And they're going to pay for that mistake," Matt growled. "I've got to get into the vault unnoticed! Happy, take me to that door."

"This is madness, Matt. You can't do this alone."

"No, and that's why I'm going with him," Aberforth said.

"Me too," Doc added.

"Then I'm going as well," Hermione decided.

"You're hurt," Doc, Matt and Aberforth said in unison.

"I'm the mediwitch here, and I say I'll live," Hermione said firmly.

"But—" Matt began, but Hermione cut him off.

"_I'm going_!"

"Really! How much help can you be, without your wand? You haven't been trained to cope with situations like this!"

"Neither have Doc or Aberforth!" Hermione frowned. "Or don't you want me along because I'm a woman?"

Matt blushed. "It isn't like that. Ron and I made a deal…never to expose the women we loved to any unnecessary danger if it ever came to it."

Hermione's indignation abated somewhat, even thought she wasn't comfortable with Ron's decision to make this pact with Matt. She'd had no idea that Ron and Matt had bonded like that. She'd thought Quidditch had been their only common ground. Then something clicked in her mind. "This happened a while ago, didn't it? Before your family… You told him how you felt about Gudrun before you told any of us!"

Matt's blush deepened. "I'm glad he kept the secret."

"Matt," Hermione began after a while. "I'm _already_ in danger. I can either go out to meet it by helping you, or wait for it to find me. I think the former is less dangerous than the latter. So you aren't placing me in any more danger. If anything, keeping me close is better."

The Australian sighed in defeat. "Fine, here's the plan. When we're in the vault, we'll—"

"Don't tell us," Hermione warned. "Malfoy's somehow able to read minds. If either Doc, Aberforth or myself is captured, he'll know whatever you're planning."

"A Mind Reader? Are you sure?" Aberforth asked.

"It's possible." There have been some vague reports about a potion that bestows the gift temporarily upon non-Mind Readers," Doc said. "Perhaps Malfoy was using it."

"Don't worry about me," Aberforth said. "I can resist Mind Reading."

"How do you do it?" Hermione asked. Her inability in that area had caused them a lot grief so far. If she could learn how to block it...

"First of all, you have to know that you're in the presence of one. It takes lots of practice to shield your thoughts accordingly, and not everyone manages to learn how. Either way, I won't be able to teach you in such a short time. However, I suggest that we get a move on. The longer we linger, the less time we have."

"Right." Doc nodded. "Let's go!"

"Hey, what about me?" Danielle asked. "You could use my help."

"We need you to look after your sisters," Matt said. "They're defenceless."

"And what am I supposed to defend them with?"

Matt tossed her an invisibility cloak. "A diversion. Grumpy will help you play shadow games in these passages…if it should come to that. First you have to help the elves carry your sisters to the best-hidden room they know. Your task is no less important than ours is. We may need you to buy us some time," he said, and turned to Happy. "Lead on."

*

Ron was getting tired of this kind of work very fast. All they had done over the past week was search a remote pine forest on foot. According to Yuriko Makioka, the stronghold had to be in that area somewhere. The search had been slow and tedious, but they had been forced to be very careful in order not to alert anyone to their clandestine presence. Their Confundus Amulets shielded them from magical detection, but they still had to be careful not to disturb the area and leave traces.

Yuriko had recently become an outlaw, charged with conspiracy and treason after she'd been caught trying to find out who had placed Princess Matsu under the Imperius Curse. She hadn't been in very good shape when they found her, having been beaten and cursed, and running low on supplies in her family sanctuary. But under the Rangers' care, she'd made a speedy recovery, and she was more determined than ever to root out whatever evil was festering within her government.

Hence she was blissfully unaware of the tension she was causing among the all-male Ranger crew. Captain Faust, Harry, and Ron had significant others. But the other blokes were all single, straight and looking. And Yuriko wasn't hard to look at. So far the competition to gain her attention had been light-hearted and friendly, but that could change. And Ron didn't want the crew to lose their focus. People could get killed because of it.

"Blackmoon…rear guard doesn't entail staring at people's rears," Faust whispered sternly, after he finally caught the Native American wizard staring at Yuriko. Aside from the fact that his lapse in vigilance could have spelled trouble, Ron couldn't hold it against him. She was very well proportioned, and the formfitting suit she was wearing didn't help matters either. Ron guessed it had to be charmed to retain body-heat. But he wished she'd wear a cloak or something, anything to make her presence less distracting. His own distraction made him feel guilty towards Hermione. He smiled briefly as his thoughts strayed to her. She had to be at Caer Sidi, cataloguing and writing notes on all the fantastic artefacts in the vaults. He could wait to have this mission over and done with. Maybe he could join her.

"The place has to be somewhere within these five square kilometres," Faust said. "We'll call it a day and narrow down the search tomorrow. It isn't like we'd find the entrance without Wortelgraaf anyway."

Yuriko whipped around, looking insulted. "I am skilled enough to find the entrance when we come upon it," she said, scowling. "And we do not have any time to spare. I am not sure about the fate of the princess, but whatever the enemies of the empire have in store for her must be very sinister. I suspect we are only hours away from finding the entrance. We had best locate it now rather than later, even if we don't take any immediate action."

"By the same token, discovering the entrance could lead to _our_ discovery," Faust countered.

"I think she's right, in that we can't give up the search now. And _you're_ right about possible sentinels at the entrance. But I have a hunch we're very close."

Captain Faust thought it over. "Your hunch, your call."

The way Captain Faust deferred to him made him acutely aware of the responsibility he was shouldering. All of a sudden he wasn't so sure anymore. They were all tired, which diminished their chances of finding the entrance. And even if they did find it, he had no idea what to do then. He'd have to cross that bridge when he came to it.

"I'll put the others on alert," Faust said, as he activated his broadcaster. "Blackmoon, prepare the locating beacon. I want the others to be able to set their Portkeys to our co-ordinates the moment we find that entrance."

Blackmoon nodded. "Yes, Captain Faust. And sir…I think I know where the entrance is."

"Where?"

Blackmoon pointed to a tree about a hundred and fifty feet away. It was barely visible among the other trees. "That pine is a different subspecies from the others in this forest. I've seen several of them spread throughout this part of the forest at _almost_ random intervals. If I were to draw their positions on a parchment, it would look a bit like a circle. They're markers!"

Yuriko shook her head. "There are more in the forest."

"True." Blackmoon blushed a little. "But Raicho thunderbirds like nesting in those particular trees. I've seen their nests in the other trees, but I didn't see any nests in any of the circle trees. Raicho like peace and quiet, so it wouldn't be unreasonable to assume that this place harbours some activity that disturbs them…say…regular patrols of guards. I also noticed some disturbed bits of underbrush at chest level every now and then, but no tracks to identify the animals that have caused the disturbances. They were human…wizards…who erased their tracks, but not all _traces_.

"Moreover, that tree is placed in a spot that defies the path that natural propagation should have given these trees. It's not impossible, but highly unlikely. And it's covered with fungus that's absent on the other trees. Even the trees that form the circle. Raicho love that fungus and will go to great lengths to find it. They even scraped it off the surface of the circle trees, but this one they've left undisturbed. Then there's also its unusual size. That tree had help in its growth."

Ron raised his eyebrows in surprise. "Why didn't you tell us about the circle sooner?"

Blackmoon blushed more deeply and looked heartily embarrassed. "I only put the clues together when you told us about your hunch. I'm sorry, I was a bit distracted before that."

Ron grinned and shot Yuriko a sideways glance. "_Were_ you now?"

The Japanese witch caught Ron's glance — and more importantly — the meaning. A pinkish tinge appeared on her cheeks as she looked from Ron to Blackmoon. She looked away and pretended to observe the tree.

"I think you just scored a point, Mr Tracker. She's impressed!" Ron whispered. "You've injured the prey. You can go in for the kill at any time."

"Shut up," Blackmoon grumbled, pulling on his goggles. "She's just embarrassed."

Ron chuckled, pulling on his own goggles. He made it look for magical energy emanations. Sure enough, the tree lit up his vision. Thankfully, the tree was no more than a magical entrance. It had no obvious detection charms. It could have hidden ones with less energy output, but they were still out of the range of such charms.

"It's hollow on the inside," Blackmoon said. "I guess there's a shaft that goes down. Another underground complex." He removed his goggles and dug around in a pouch before producing the beacon.

"Bloody hell," Ron cursed. "Why do they all have to be underground!"

"I'm no Curse Breaker, Captain," Blackmoon continued, "but I think it's unwise to put the beacon right here. With its energy output, I don't want to risk it. Even though the signature is difficult to detect."

"Place it three hundred feet to the north then," Faust suggested. "I'm not an expert either, but the added distance should certainly conceal it. I don't think the others will mind having to travel that short distance the old-fashioned way. Don't activate it yet, though. The others still need time to grab their gear, and the rest of _our_ gear."

Half an hour later, everyone except the artificer in charge of the Cruiser was gathered at the site. Wortelgraaf had examined the tree more carefully and had discovered a magic mechanism that alerted the people inside the underground fortress to anyone using the entrance, even though it wasn't necessarily an alarm. Of course, the alarm would no doubt be sounded in the event of an unscheduled arrival.

Unfortunately, there was no way to disarm it from the outside. They could proverbially kick down the door, but that would take away the element of surprise.

"We could wait for the next patrol to come out and use the door, right?" Brody, a veteran Scottish Ranger from the Martial Division remarked.

"Yes, but we have to wait until their patrol is done, before we jump them. Using the entrance right after they come out would raise suspicion," Faust said, and turned to Blackmoon. "How long until the next patrol?"

"Your guess is as good as mine, Captain. It doesn't take much human presence to scare Raicho away. There could be as little as be one patrol every forty-eight hours."

Everyone groaned at that.

"It won't take that long," Ron said. "A place as important as this one will have more frequent patrols."

"But why have patrols?" Harry asked. "You just said that traces left by these patrols gave this place away in the first place."

"The patrolling guards are not woodsmen," Yuriko said. "The positions at this fortress have likely been handed out as political favours, not taking into account the suitability of the wizard in question. They probably rely too heavily on magic to cover their tracks. Also, the fortress was designed by an Inihara noble with no knowledge of how things worked in the woods. I am sure it never occurred to him that the location of the trees would give the entrance away. I think they were planted as means for novice patrollers to find their way around. And the fortress's main defence was its secret location. _We _only discovered the pattern because we knew the fortress had to be around here somewhere."

"Let's get under cover and wait for these people to come out, then." Faust said.

The Rangers nodded and spread into the surrounding woods. All they could do was wait.

***

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Author's Note: Okay, I hereby disclaim the painfully obvious Star Wars reference. LOL, I know Darth Vader's introduction pretty much spoofs things up, but I was just having a bit of fun. :-p I'd also like to take this moment to thank my betas for helping me with the story, and Foxfur for so generously donating her time to work out the family trees for me. And last but not least, the noble readers and reviewers.

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Fogish: No, Matt didn't find a way to change his blood type.

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The Millennium One: Believe whatever you like. ;-)

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Jona: If it were Matt, he wouldn't have been polyjuiced because J.S. looked like him. Why polyjuice into a form the resembles your own so much?

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Gogirl: No real battle yet, but there will be more action in chapter 23.

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Porphyrophobic Grape: I hope she doesn't kill Ginny either. It would really break my heart. I don't know if I'll be a HP fan anymore if she kills Ginny.

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Lioness-07863: I also post on GT, but usually after I post here.

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bane: If it makes you feel any better, chapter 23 will have over 7,000 words.

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Lady Reaper of the Shadows: Like I said, interpretation. ;-)

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Amy: No, Nathan isn't Mary's father.

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nycgal: A belated Happy Birthday. I'm sorry I banged up the girls like that.

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Maab: AB is an excellent blood type to have, especially AB+. That means you're a universal receiver. If anything happens to you can take any type of blood with no ill effects.

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Foxfur: You know, the bit about Nathan and surfing is actually a cool theory. Crazy, but cool. No, Nathan isn't Mary's father.

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Jacqueline Hyde: All your questions will be answered in due time. And I haven't written any original stories. I don't have a good enough idea yet.

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Casual Reader: I know it was a cliffhanger. But I can't promise it won't happen again.

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Lamina Court: You've seen Wolfe.

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LadySiri: Ouch!

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the.grey.lady: LOL. No, it isn't Malfoy.

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Lord Dreadnault: Couples therapy, now there's an idea.


	23. Rescue and Peril

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Rescue and Peril

Chapter 23

Thankfully the bleeding seemed to have stopped. She'd been really worried about that because she had begun to feel a bit light-headed. Unfortunately, the pain was still there. She was using every ounce of her concentration to ignore the pain and she was barely succeeding. If the situation hadn't been so dire, she knew she wouldn't have been able to summon the willpower to move even a single a muscle. She almost wished she hadn't, because every step she took wracked her body with pain. She felt like she was about to throw up her guts while someone was trying to disembowel her at the same time. She wished she'd paid more attention in those classes Khan had given about meditation. A proper meditative state could induce the body to release natural painkillers. And she needed them badly.

"You shouldn't be here!" Matt hissed. Her laboured breathing had attracted his attention.

"None of us should," Hermione grunted. "Shut up and keep moving…it hurts less when I walk," she lied.

"How far is it, Happy?" Matt anxiously asked the house-elf.

"We are nearly there, Master Matt," the elf assured them. "It is not far now."

The passage, which had been so narrow that they had only been able to walk single file, widened somewhat to allow two people to walk side by side. A short while later they encountered a gilded door with a heraldic shield on it. There were in luck. It looked like this was a secondary door to the vault. Perhaps the previous lords had used it when they wished to enter the vault inconspicuously.

The shield looked like the Hogwarts crest, although the shape of the field was different. In heraldic terms, the heater-curved shield was quartered, displaying four different images on the field, each being overlapped a little by a surtout, which in the case of the Hogwarts crest was the H. On this shield, it was a black patriarchal cross in a small, golden shield shaped like the actual heraldic shield. 

Where the rampant Gryffindor lion would be, facing the Slytherin serpent, stood a black rampart gardant griffin clutching a raised bastard sword in a middle guard with its talons. It stood out sharply against its azure backdrop. Opposite it, against a silver backdrop, an ornate emerald chalice was drawn. Below the chalice, against a sable backdrop, what looked like a gold flower with diamond shaped petals, was drawn. It was vaguely familiar, but Hermione couldn't place it. Next to the flower and below the griffin, a pair of interfretted silver keys were depicted against a sanguine backdrop. 

Hermione immediately understood the symbolism of that last quarter. The two closest descendants identified by the Consanguinity charm had access to the vault. Then her eyes fell on the escrol, the ribbon of parchment that bore the motto. But unlike most heraldic shields she'd seen, the motto was not in Latin. She had no idea what language it was. She was sure this alphabet hadn't been covered in Ancient Runes - but then again - these weren't runes. "I've never seen writing like that before." 

"These are letters from an alphabet called the Rawgnet. It's Draconian." Aberforth said.

"What does it say?"

"Let's see…" the old wizard peered at the inscription. "Ah quite simple, really. Guardians of the Gate."

Doc examined the door up close and pointed to grooved handle. "I think you have to grab it over here, Matt."

Matt nodded and wrapped his hand around the handle. There was a clicking sound and Matt jerked back his hand.

"What's wrong?" Hermione asked, concerned.

"Don't worry," Matt said and briefly sucked on the palm of his hand. "The door bit me," he added, showing her the tiny puncture.

Then a series of clicking sounds emanated from the door, and it slowly began swinging backwards, revealed yet another dark, flagstone corridor with a shallow incline.

"Brilliant, it identifies you by blood," Doc said, still looking at the mechanism.

"Shhh!" Matt held up his hand and listened intently. Hermione followed his example, and she too heard the noises made by the intruders in another part of the vault. "Quietly now."

They carefully walked up the corridor until they reached a stone door with a small eyehole in it. Matt looked through it for about a minute. 

When he was satisfied he turned to them. "By the sound of it, I reckon they're all far away. We can stay out of sight if we move along the edge of the chamber. Now, how does this door open?"

Just as he asked that question, there was a thumping sound before the door noiselessly slid open. Matt looked at Doc inquisitively. 

The half goblin pointed at a stone that protruded out over the rest and shrugged. "It's a gift."

Before going in, Matt gave them the three invisibility cloaks he had taken from the enemy. They weren't in as good a shape as the ones Harry and the Order owned. One of them even had a small hole that could give the wearer way at close range. Doc took that one, arguing that he was the hardest to detect because of his stature, while Aberforth would share one with the house-elf.

"Matt, I think you should wear one of these, instead of us," Hermione began. "You're the biggest."

"Nonsense. I can stay a step ahead of these clowns," Matt said confidently.

"Matt, if you're killed it's all over. Think of the danger!"

"Danger is my middle name."

"What about Gudrun?" Hermione said finally. She hadn't wanted to resort to emotional blackmail, but she _had_ to get Matt to accept her cloak instead.

"She's Icelandic. She doesn't have a middle name," Matt answered laconically, deftly defusing her attempt.

Hermione looked at him incredulously and opening and closing her mouth. How could he joke at a time like this?

"Unbelievable! You shut her up!" Doc grinned.

Matt gave Hermione an apologetic smile and slipped into the treasure chamber. Doc and Aberforth followed, and Hermione went last. She saw an empty chandelier bolted to the wall and guessed its function. She twisted it, causing the wall to close again. Then she began to follow Matt, who was moving along swiftly, staying low and hiding behind objects large enough to conceal his bulk.

He seemed to have spotted something and darted towards it. It looked like an antechamber, and Hermione slowly paced herself as she moved in that direction, not wanting to bump into Doc or Aberforth. She made it with no mishaps and saw that Doc and Aberforth had already arrived, their heads floating in mid-air, or so it seemed. 

Doc's head was orbiting a golden golem, trying to find a way to activate it. Matt wasn't so careful. He simply knocked on its head. Strangely enough its eyes flashed to life. "Welcome back, Master—" It stopped and looked Matt over. "I'm afraid I don't know you. How long have I been dormant?"

"Keep your voice down. I'm Matthew Kelly. My mother was an Archidiaconus. Things haven't gone so well for my family in the last fifty years. I'm the last of the line…well…me and Draco Malfoy."

"A Malfoy!" The golem's tone was ominous. "How can a Malfoy have claim?"

"All my closer relatives were wiped out by a powerful dark wizard. Listen, I don't have time to tell you everything that's happened. I'll get to the crux of the matter. Malfoy is here right now, trying to empty the vault. The only things stopping him are the curses that protect the treasure. It will only be a matter of time before he breaks those. The only thing in our favour is that he can't use magic either. In order to put us at a disatvantage, he activated a magical device that interferes with spell casting."

"Really? How—"

"You've been in here for over a hundred years, or so I've been told," Matt said quickly. "Magic has come a long way since then. However, concerning the device, it also prevents Malfoy from breaking the curses that protect the treasure. He won't dare work on the treasure before he's disposed of us."

"The situation is dire indeed," Logos acknowledged. "The intruders have to be driven off. You should awaken Anzu, Master Matthew."

"Anzu?" Matt frowned.

"The Griffin Guardian of Caer Sidi. Come, I will show you."

The golem began to move, but his joints creaked so loudly they could wake the dead.

"Stop!" Matt hissed. "You'll give us away. I'll carry you, but you have to tell me where to go," he said, as he scooped up the golem. 

Logos directed them behind a bunch of statues and pointed out a groove in the wall, which contained a handle. Matt pulled it and opened another stone door that hid a corridor much like the one they had used to enter the vault. It led them to another chamber with a ceiling as high as that of the rest of the vault. It was set apart from the vault by a huge bronze door that Malfoy evidently hadn't tried to open yet.

Then the golem pointed at a sword that was stuck in a rock, like Excalibur from the legend. The ornate hand-guard was covered with beautiful jewels. The part of the blade that still stuck out of the rock was covered with runes.

"Sathregna." Aberforth said quietly, afraid to be overheard by the people on the other side of the bronze door. "Draconian runes. They were created for scratched or incised inscriptions."

"Only the first heir of the Archidiaconus can draw the sword," Logos said after Matt put him down. "Remove it, Master."

Matt stepped up to the stone and gripped the handle with two hands. Hermione could see the runes begin to glow with a green light when Matt gripped the sword, and slowly but surely it began sliding out. Then, with a final tug, Matt freed the sword from the stone. Hermione fought the urge to spontaneously bow as Matt held the blazing sword aloft triumphantly.

"Now go to the edge of the circle and push the sword all the way into the column stump."

The column Logos was referring to looked like it came from some ancient Greek ruin, sliced off neatly at about four feet. Looking closer, Hermione saw a narrow hole in the axis of the column. There was flanked by a few shallower depressions designed to accommodate part of the hand guard.

Matt pushed the sword all the way down until he heard a loud click under the large circle in the floor. It was so loud that they all jumped at the sound. And they hadn't been the only ones who heard it. On the other side of the great bronze door, everything had gone quiet suddenly.

Logos motioned Matt to twist the sword one quarter clockwise, and Matt quickly complied. That was when the racket really began. It sounded like they were standing inside a huge clock, with several giant cogs turning as they struggled to pry the circle on the floor apart.

"Get that door open!" Hermione heard Malfoy shout. "Blast it open if you have to!"

"Hide," Matt said urgently. "Don't wait for them to open the door."

"What about you?" Hermione asked.

"Don't argue…and don't worry. I'll be fine. What next, Logos?" he asked, turning to the golem.

A small panel in the golem's chest swung open and revealed an uneven chunk of stone about the size of a fist. Hermione knew what it was.

"Dragonite!" Aberforth whispered.

The golem plucked the stone out of its chest and presented it to Matt. "You must spill some of your blood on the stone. Anzu needs a blood pact with its pilot in order to function."

Pilot? What on earth would Anzu be, in order to require a pilot? She looked back at the circle just in time to see a large construct rising out of the circular hole in the ground. It looked like a huge, roughly twenty-six feet tall suit of armour. It was jet black, adorned with a huge red gemstone on the left chest section, and two emerald ones, each on one shoulder. Its hands had four clawed, not quite birdlike digits, since the fourth functioned like an opposable thumb. The boots had toes that resembled a lion's. The helmet was sculpted like an eagle's head. With a start, Hermione realised that this was the black griffin on the heraldic shield.

The bronze door suddenly groaned and shook under the pressure exerted on it from the other side. They were trying to pry them apart!

She turned back to Matt, who drew the sword from the column again. He looked at her pointedly, reminding her to hide. Aberforth nodded in the direction of the secret passage and threw the remainder of the invisibility cloak over himself and Happy. Doc followed suit and Hermione had no choice but to leave. All she could do was hope that Matt would be done in time. 

Aberforth's old hand appeared and waved. She hurried to the secret door, doing her best not to wince as every step jolted her womb and caused intense pain to radiate out into the rest of her body. The door slid closed after she stepped inside, but Doc jammed a loose piece of rubble between the door and the wall to prevent it from closing completely, giving them the opportunity to look at Matt from the relative safety of the secret passage.

She looked on as Matt used the sword to cut into his palm. He turned his hand palm down and let the blood dribble onto the Dragonite. Hermione thought she saw the stone gleam briefly, as if it had acknowledged the presence of the blood. Then, following Logos' instructions, Matt climbed onto the giant armour and held the bloodied Dragonite in front of the red gemstone. It glowed brightly, and the front facet seemed to turn into a jelly-like translucent substance. Matt's hand easily slid into the gem and came back out without the Dragonite. Now the emerald gems began to glow as well.

The bronze door shuddered again, and to Hermione's horror it began to slide open. The dark general became visible in the aperture. He seemed to be prying it open with his magic, allowing the enemy to slip into the room. One of the wizards shot a crossbow dart at Matt, but he was already on the move and the dart shot harmlessly passed him.

He picked up his swords and charged the wizard that had shot at him, closer slightly faster than normally humanly possible and zigzagging as he approached, to make himself a more difficult target.

The wizard panicked and loosed another inaccurate shot before the bastard sword slid across his belly, dropping him to his knees and leaving him to clutch the wound as if he were trying to keep his guts from slipping out.

Matt never even gave his a second glance and gored his second opponent half a heartbeat later. He hoisted the twitching body on his sword and twisted it between himself and a third opponent, who unloaded a crossbow dart into his dying comrade.

The wizard gurgled as his body began to expand before it exploded, revealing the alarming fact that the crossbow bolts were tipped with all sorts of nasty substances. Hermione shuddered with dread, but Matt never missed a beat. The third wizard, who had been wiping the blood and gore out of his eyes, lost the hand that had been wiping his face along with his head. The furious Ranger warrior then spun around and attacked the dark general.

But the vicious slash was parried by the dark wizard's own grotesque bastard sword with the motif of a skull. Its blade was covered in runes that were glowing bright red, and Hermione swore there was a crackle of energy as the swords connected.

Matt might have been taller, but the dark general proved to be much stronger when he shoved Matt backwards. Then, many more wizards followed the dark general in. Those with bows trained them on Matt and it didn't look like they were about to miss.

Malfoy then swaggered into the room, wearing his usual sickening smirk. "Matthew Kelly…we finally meet. Such an ordinary Mudblood name for a pureblooded wizard, don't you think? Completely unworthy of being the name for the lord of Caer Sidi. Draco Malfoy, on the other hand… now _there's_ a name for a true castle lord."

"You'll never be the lord of this castle," Matt spat. "Unless, of course, you have to guts to fight me for it. Wizard to wizard Malfoy, with any weapon! What do you say?"

"I'm not as stupid as I look, Kelly." Draco grinned.

"Unfortunately not," Matt said grimly. "But you _are_ every bit as cowardly."

"Be that as it may, I'll own everything by birthright when you're dead. What was briefly yours is now mine. We don't have time to make it painful. Just kill him!"

"No, I'll deal with him myself," the dark general said. "I have waited a long time for a worthy opponent. I was bred to fight such an opponent…the circle is finally complete. Your cowardice will not deprive me of this opportunity, Malfoy."

Malfoy's cheeks turned pink. "Do what you will. Just make it quick." He turned on his heel, but whispered a few instructions to some of the wizards, probably to kill Matt in case the dark general couldn't do the job, or to shoot them both.

Hermione balled her fists. She had to do something. If she could only get to the fallen wizard's crossbow, maybe she could turn it all around. "We have to help him…"

"All we can do now is survive and try to take as many of them as possible down with us," Doc said. "We can't help—"

A loud creaking of joints drowned out Doc's words. Hermione shifted her gaze to the source of the sword and saw that Anzu had come to life. It reached behind its back with a clawed hand and drew a sword out of a sheath on its back. It held the sword in a middle guard and the blade seemed to slide out of part of the hand guard, thus growing even longer. It lurched forward as pushed Matt out of the way as gently as it could, before falling on their foes with a vengeance.

The dark general somersaulted over its enormous sword, but the other wizards, who had been lined up behind him, were all cut down in a single swipe. Some arrows shot through the door from the other side but bounced harmlessly off its thick armour plating, not even denting it.

The dark general counterattacked with a superhuman jump, slashing at the chest of the griffin-giant, but even the evil sword didn't even scratch it. He briefly stared at the sword before he retreated out of the chamber with another superhuman leap. Anzu pursued, and pandemonium broke out in the treasure vault beyond the bronze doors. The sounds of battle briefly echoed into the secret passageway. Hermione could no longer restrain herself and pulled the lever that opened the door. She hurried towards Matt, who was staring at the battle in amazement.

Malfoy practically dove through the portal while the dark general calmly stepped through after giving Matt a last lingering look. Hermione got the unsettling feeling that he'd been able to see her despite the invisibility cloak.

A tiger tackled the wizard who had intended to follow the dark general before he got the chance to go through. Three blurring silvery disks then struck the portal at various points, destroying it. She couldn't believe her eyes when a dozen grey-uniformed Rangers poured into the vault, lead by a grim-faced Commander Ironheart. She sank to her knees and began to sob with relief. They were saved!

*

"Amateurs!" Brody said smugly as he finished binding the third and last patrolman. "This is too easy."

"Easy for you to say, Braveheart," Ron smiled. "We had them outnumbered."

Mercifully, the wait for the next patrol hadn't been forty-eight hours. Harry's fingers brushed the hilt of Wolfe's sword once more for luck. Hopefully the mission would go more smoothly than things with Ginny. He'd given Captain Faust his assurance that he'd keep his thoughts on the mission. But this proved harder and harder by the minute.

He'd overheard the talk between Ron and Hermione a few days ago when Hermione had communicated with them. Ginny wasn't wearing his ring any longer. At the time he'd thought that things couldn't get any worse. However, he had to amend his thinking, taking into account that he was Harry Potter and that the powers that be simply didn't want him to be happy, punishing him more viciously than others would be for the same transgressions.

"Stay focussed!" Riyadi said, much to Harry's embarrassment. The Indonesian wizard had caught him daydreaming, and it wasn't the first time. He'd let his attention wander far too often over the last few days.

While they'd been waiting for the patrol to emerge, Ron had suggested that it would be an even better idea to subdue the patrol early on and use the remaining time to extract any possible secrets from the prisoners in the hope that it would yield some useful information.

"All right!" Ron talked into his broadcaster. "Hwang, are you getting the homing signals from the Portkeys? Good! I'm on my way."

"Leaving already? Things were just getting interesting." Blackmoon smiled.

"I'll be guiding you like pawns on a chessboard…if I can stay awake that is." Ron yawned.

"Not to worry, Mr Weasley. I know a brew that will stave off fatigue for a few more hours." He turned to the Combat Rangers. "All right, men…and woman… Be careful! You've _each_ been given a flask of tears so generously donated by the phoenixes over the last few weeks."

Harry's unease decreased a bit as Faust reminded them of that. He hoped they wouldn't need the tears at all, but at least there was less of a risk of the events in Georgia repeating themselves.

"As you move through the fortress, the telemetry from your goggles and your paths will help us create a map that'll allow us to guide you out of there in case you can't leave by Portkey," Faust continued. "However, we have to assume that there might be a something that's blocking teleportation of any kind since Yamato might be involved. If so, hopefully the beacon will be able to pierce the veil enough for you to get out anyway. You also have fifty relay beads you can stick to the walls. As you've seen in the demonstration, they'll relay the signal of your goggles in case it's jammed. They're each good for about fifty metres, giving you each a range of—"

"We can do that math, Captain," Brody said impatiently. "And yes, we remember that we only have to start using them individually after we separate from the rest of the group."

Harry frowned. He wanted to have the mission over and done with as fast as any of them, but the Scotsman was getting downright careless in his impatience.

"Don't be hasty," Faust admonished. "Weasley, let's go."

Ron and Captain Faust disappeared, leaving Harry and the others behind. An odd feeling came over him as he donned a mask, and he felt like a burglar all of the sudden. He was still a bit uneasy about the clandestine nature of this raid. Sure, the princess had been set up by corrupt elements within the empire, but the fact that he might have to hurt wizards and witches who were only doing their jobs…wizards like these patrolmen.

When she'd been interrogating the guards with Veritaserum, Yuriko found out that the youngest guard was extremely unhappy with Princess Matsu's situation. While Veritaserum put its subjects in a trance-like state that compelled them to tell what they believed to be the truth, it did nothing to suppress their feelings and emotions. Yuriko told them she'd picked up on that and asked him about his feelings on the matter. Apparently the young Unicorn called Shinji privately disagreed with the decree that the emperors or empresses had to be able to resist the Imperius Curse while so few people were able to. He also doubted that pure imperial blood and resistance to the curse went hand in hand. The young wizard professed to be able to throw off the curse reasonably quickly, as opposed to the majority of his clan-mates, most of which were very closely related to the imperial house and had purer blood. His own mother, on the other hand, turned out to be a Muggle-born witch who had been adopted into the lesser Hippogriff Clan, making him a half-blood among many purebloods. This reasoning had caused him to rethink many of the issues that other Japanese wizards took for granted. Yuriko had also voiced her suspicion that the young guard might have a crush on the pretty princess.

Now she was looking Shinji's bound form thoughtfully. "Lieutenant Riyadi."

"What is it?" the Indonesian wizard asked.

"I believe Nakamoto Shinji would not be opposed to the princess's rescue. I believe he would help us rescue her."

The guard's help would certainly make the first part of their mission a whole lot easier. Caution was important, but they had to balance it with the need to reach the station where the patrols were supposed to report in after their sweeps, and subdue the people manning it. According to one of the patrolmen, who had done a few shifts at that station, reports could be delayed up to half an hour if there wasn't anything out of the ordinary to report. That gave the Rangers a thirty-minute window to find the princess before the security staff would begin to get suspicious. Not an easy task, since the patrolmen had been relatively low in the chain of command and none of them had ever been into the part of the fortress where the princess was being held. So the part of the fortress that had to be searched within that time was a big unknown factor. 

Harry still wasn't sure whether the young guard would help them, though. Remembering Wolfe's words of caution, Harry had spent the time he hadn't been thinking about Ginny to further familiarise himself with the intricacies of Japanese society. "Are you sure he'll do it? I mean, if he were to join us there would be no going back. The perceived dishonour his clan and family will suffer is considerable. In your case it isn't so bad because your clan is a minor clan which has always been perceived as rebellious anyway…no offence. But it's different for him…he's a _Unicorn_."

"He had nothing to lose anymore." Yuriko shrugged. "Failure to prevent our entry into the fortress will harm his reputation beyond repair already. All he has left is his own true personal honour, something he can save be helping us. When I questioned him, I found that he and I think the same way. He will help us, even if he is a Unicorn. I also have some very persuasive reasons ready, should he not be immediately swayed." She looked at Lieutenant Riyadi, awaiting his decision.

"Captain?" Riyadi called into his broadcaster, deferring to higher authority.

"I heard," Faust's voice sounded in all their ear-pieces. "Might as well give it a try. But do it while he's affected by Veritaserum. I don't want to risk having him turn on us later."

Yuriko looked uneasy about that. "We could do that. But if he consents to help us and we administer the antidote, he will be offended when the serum-trance ends. Veritaserum does nothing to erase memory. He will believe that we doubted his honour."

"So we Obliviate him and repeat the process if his response is favourable," Faust said matter-of-factly. "He won't remember that we doubted his honour."

"But _I_ will remember," Yuriko said gloomily.

"I know what you mean, Yuriko," the Ranger captain sighed. "But I have a responsibility towards my people. How do I know that he wouldn't lie if it gave him a chance to foil this rescue attempt and repair the damage to his family's honour? I know _you_ wouldn't do such a thing, and I know you believe that he wouldn't either. But can you be absolutely sure? Like Harry said, he's a Unicorn, not a Ninetails. I know you'd stake your life on your belief in him. But are you ready to stake ours on it as well?"

Yuriko lowered her eyes. "You are right, Captain," she conceded. "I have no right to place your lives in needless peril. The princess's rescue is the first priority."

That said, they revived the young guard and reinforced the trance with another droplet of Veritaserum. Talking rapidly in her native language Yuriko began asking the guard all kinds of questions, though Harry couldn't begin to guess what they were. At some point however, the guard frowned and shook his head. Yuriko looked disappointed because of that reaction.

"What's wrong?" Harry asked.

"He says he understands our reasons, but that he cannot help us. The princess's fate, whatever it might be, will salvage the imperial family's honour. He cannot deprive them of that opportunity."

"Ask him if he knows about the curse on the imperial family," Ron's tired voice sounded through their ear-pieces suddenly.

"Everybody knows about the curse." Yuriko frowned.

"Indulge me, all right?" Ron asked impatiently, and Yuriko complied with a puzzled look, asking the guard about it. He replied affirmatively.

"Like I said, he knows, Yuriko translated.

"Now ask him if he knows how the curse was sealed."

Yuriko seemed to catch on, and began rattling away at the young guard again. Harry had no idea what Ron had in mind. Then Yuriko's face lit up. "I explained to him about the sacrifice of the maho witch to seal the curse. I told him I believe there are more sinister forces at work, and that this treachery was set up to lead to Matsu-hime's execution, which might serve as a sacrifice to seal yet another curse. He said that if what I say is true, he would be more than happy to help us, since it would be for the grace of the imperial family and would protect their honour. But he wants to know how he can be sure that _we _are not here to kill the princess."

"He'll just have to take our word for it," Brody grumbled.

"You want to ask a samurai wizard to take the words of a bunch of strangers wearing ninja masks?" Ron's sarcastic question sounded from the Cruiser. "Good luck!"

"I might be able to convince him," Harry said quietly. "At least, I hope so."

"Obliviate him and start over again," Faust said, and they repeated the whole process after administering the antidote and reviving the guard. It went much quicker this time, partly, Harry guessed, because Yuriko had worked out how to deliver the message more convincingly the second time around. But the guard still looked uneasy, and Yuriko glanced at Harry, giving him his cue.

Harry walked up to the wizard and removed his mask.

"Potter, what are you doing?" Riyadi asked nervously.

The guard gasped as his eyes flitted over Harry's forehead. 

"Do you speak English?" Harry asked, not wanting to assume that all Japanese wizards spoke English, even though most of the ones he'd met had been able to do so.

"A little," was the halting reply.

"You want to be certain that we aren't here to hurt Matsu-hime, correct?" Harry said, trying to keep his sentence as simple as possible.

The young wizard nodded.

Harry replied by drawing the Phoenix Clan's enchanted sword. "Do you know what this is?"

A look of awe spread over the young wizard's face. "The sword of an imperial guard. The sword lets you touch it. I know you are not here to kill Sayuki-sama. Please, let me help…"

Harry smiled. The guard had immediately realised what Harry was trying to make clear.

"Let him help," Faust consented. "Cut him loose." 

Minutes later, Lieutenant Osman pulled his goggles over his head and jumped straight into the shaft. Harry knew he was among the more powerful Rangers, and he could slow himself down with a wand-less levitation charm at the last moment. Then Wortelgraaf, the team's Curse Breaker, followed. Then Brody climbed in, followed by Yuriko, Blackmoon, Shinji, Riyadi and Harry. Wilson, the other Curse Breaker, went last and sealed the entrance properly behind him.

After Harry dropped into the corridor below, he took in the details. They were standing in a dead end corridor with masonry walls. He was used to passages that had been hewn out of solid rock and the rather civilised sight surprised him. Brody and Blackmoon had already cleared the next corridor, and after ensuring that they still had contact with Ron and Captain Faust in the Cruiser, Lieutenant Riyadi gave the go ahead signal.

Shinji quickly lead them to the security station, and the two witches who manned the station never knew what hit them. That had been the easy part. There was a heavy door that led into the fortress proper, but Shinji said he didn't know how things looked beyond it.

"Oh, damn it!" Wilson cursed. He was peering at the door through his goggles. "This is a trick door."

"What do you mean?"

"It's a door, but it isn't. There's nothing behind it, but it has a teleportation spell on it. It transports you when you touch it. And we have no idea where we'll end up when we do."

Yuriko looked at Shinji and asked him a question. 

He answered by shaking his head. 

"What did you ask him?" Riyadi inquired.

"I asked him if he ever saw anyone use this door. He did not."

"I don't the see problem," Brody sighed.

"Doors like these could be trapped. There might be more than one destination. You could be sent off to a very unpleasant place if you don't have the proper clearance…it's usually in the form of a key."

"This place was supposed to be a secret," Brody said impatiently. "There's no reason for the door to be trapped."

"Be quiet, Brody," Faust interrupted sternly. "These people aren't careless. The fact that Mr Nakamoto never saw anyone use it makes it even more obvious that it isn't meant to be used by unauthorised personnel. Wilson, is there any way around it?"

"I could probably work out whether or not there is a trap of some sort. But it'll take longer than twenty-eight minutes. Our best bet is to search the people at the security station. One of them must have more clearance than the others…and the key. It'll take about two minutes for me get the accurate signature from this door. Then I'll know what to look for in the key."

"I wish Doc were here," Wortelgraaf said.

"Yeah, he seems to have a knack for finding keys, doesn't he?" Wilson grinned as he fiddled some knobs on a triangular-shaped device with a mirrored screen. 

A minute and a half later, Harry saw a few glowing words appear on the screen, accompanied by a yellowish hue. 

"This should be it," Wilson said. "Whatever the key is, it ought to radiate this aura. The detector should identify it. I'll sweep the security officers. It shouldn't take long."

Harry was thankful that it didn't. About three minutes later Wilson returned, clasping a large silver coin about an inch in diameter.

"All right, everyone hold hands. I'll touch the handle…"

"I am _not_ holdingany man's hand!" Brody protested.

"Man, you're really annoying today…" Riyadi said. "You don't have to be holding anyone's hand. Just grab a wrist, or something."

"You _are _aware that we might lose contact with you, depending on how far you are transported," Faust mentioned.

"I don't think the fortress is too far away," Ron began. "This set-up strikes me as a way to prevent unauthorised personnel, or possibly a spy, from entering the fortress. There's a chance we'll still be in communication's range. And even if we won't be, there is a way to keep our communication going. The security station has some magical means of communicating with the fortress proper, right? Hwang here is telling me that another design parameter of those relay beads is to double as a communications surveillance device. It can be thrown into a fireplace or stuck onto the back of a mirror to spy on all communications. If you find out how it works and activate it, one of these beads should form an instant relay."

"Not a bad idea," Wilson said. "But if we activate their means of communication they'll be expecting a report. And isn't the link supposed to be open at both sides for this to work?"

"Oh, I didn't think of that," Ron replied after a brief silence. 

"On with the original plan, then," Wilson said. "Prepare to subdue anyone who might be at the other end, before they can sound the alarm."

They formed a chain and Wilson touched the door. The sensation behind the navel was much like the one Harry felt with Portkey travel, and he guessed this door had to be some sort of variant for a Portkey. But the ride was much smoother, and instead of smacking onto the floor at their destination, it almost seemed like another room appeared around them while they stood perfectly still.

Harry had still been busy getting his bearings while Lieutenant's Riyadi and Osman reacted with unusual Wolfe-like quickness and simultaneously shot tranquilliser darts into a startled witch who had been crossing the dimly lit room, making it obvious why they held their rank...they were _good_! Riyadi rushed over and caught her before she hit the ground. He dragged her into a corner.

"Nice shooting," Brody whispered.

Osman didn't look pleased, though, and Harry knew why. There was a good chance that the witch would be missed at her post sooner than any of them would have liked. "Damn, we don't know if she'll be missed or how long it'll be before someone else decides to walk in here."

"We'll have to take her with us. We can't risk anyone finding her." Riyadi nodded, and flashed Brody a wicked grin. "Guess who has the honour?"

"Look at her…she must weight nearly fourteen stone," Brody complained. 

Harry smiled. He thought fourteen stone was a bit too heavy an estimate. However, like most Japanese women, she wasn't very tall, but she was nearly as plump as Mrs Weasley used to be before Mr Weasley was killed. That connection wiped the smile off his face immediately. 

"You shouldn't have neglected your fitness." Riyadi shrugged. "Consider it supplemental exercise."

"All right, but I'll dump her in the first secure place I find."

"People…" Faust's exited voice rang, "We're still here. You're less than fifty metres away from your previous position. Weasley was right."

Harry was relieved. At least some things were going right. He gave took a closer look at the tranquillised woman…she looked awfully familiar…

"I suggest you ask your new captive if she knows where the princess is. It'll save time," Ron's voice added.

"Right away," Riyadi said. "Wilson, the antidote to the tranquilliser, and Veritaserum, please."

"Hold on, that's the lady with the ugly daughter!" Harry said, as he finally recognised her without the layer of white make-up on her face. Yuriko, she was at the banquet too."

Yuriko stepped closer and recognised the woman immediately. "Okomura-sama, of the Thunderbird Clan," she smiled. "Shobo-sama said she had an ugly daughter?"

Harry grinned. "Dumb too!"

"Then she must have inherited her brain from her father's side of the family. This woman is incredibly intelligent, even if she pretends to be dumb. I've always suspected that there was more to her than immediately evident."

Wilson had finished administering the Veritaserum and the antidote to the tranquilliser, and the woman was now in a trance-like state.

"Yuriko, if you will…" Riyadi asked.

"You can ask her yourself, if you want to. She is proficient in English," Yuriko suggested.

Riyadi shrugged. "Where is Sayuki Matsu-hime, and how do we get there safely?"

The woman began to talk and gave them some directions.

"We got it," Faust said. "While you're at it, ask her the best way of that place and where you can stow her with the least chance of her being found too soon."

It turned out to be the same way they came, and minutes later they were on the move again. The woman had been tranquillised and put inside a utility closet in a nearby corridor.

They followed the instructions came upon a corridor that was shaped like a pipe, like the woman had said. A blue line was drawn, beginning on the floor at their side and curving along the wall to end at the ceiling on the other side.

"What the hell…" Blackmoon muttered.

"Gravity inversion…brilliant!" Wortelgraaf said. "It must be a security measure. They have the prisoners standing on their heads, so to speak."

"Huh?" Blackmoon frowned.

"If someone managed to break out of a cell, his natural instinct would be to flee upwards, since that's the logical thing to do in a dungeon. But in this case that would take him—"

"Deeper into the dungeon," Brody finished. "These people _are _thorough." 

They moved on, careful to remain near the line. Harry didn't even notice the gravity change. The only thing that gave away the complicated gravity spell was that the Rangers in front of him seemed to stick to the wall at impossible angles.

Their incursion went on undisturbed for about seventeen to eighteen more minutes. On their way to the princess's cell they passed reinforced doors that obviously lead to lower-security cellblocks. Harry concluded that the princess's cell was deeper in the dungeon, and the bland decoration changed, becoming slightly more pleasant with some statuettes every now and then, as they climbed more stairways. Harry realised that it served the sinister purpose of fooling escapees into thinking they were nearing freedom.

Like the woman had said, they reached a stone door with the markings of the five great clans on it. There was supposed to be a room with columns beyond the door, and at the far end of that room another door that lead to the princess's cell.

They pushed the door open, and it revealed the room the woman had described. It was about time too, Harry thought, because they were running out of time.

"Stop!" Wortelgraaf said suddenly, barring the way into the chamber. "Something is wrong…it's been bothering me, but I can't place my finger on it."

"You too, eh?" Wilson nodded.

"Why would a room in a dungeon have support pillars if everything has been hewn out of rock? They're superfluous." Wortelgraaf remarked.

"Ares' Hall of Daggers," Wilson said.

"Exactly." Wortelgraaf nodded.

"What's the matter?" Faust asked anxiously.

Harry was confused too. The Curse Breakers weren't making any sense.

"I think Mrs Okomura was immune to Veritaserum," Wilson said slowly. "This room has all the marks of a trap."

"Are you sure?" Faust asked.

"Positive, Captain," Wortelgraaf confirmed.

"Isn't it possible that _she_ believed what she was telling us?" Osman asked.

Suddenly loud, alarm-like ringing filled Harry's ears.

"We can now also assume she was lying about the infrequently used utility room!" Wilson screamed over the ringing.

***

****

Author's Note: Woohooo, the Order of the Phoenix is finally out. Hopefully the Harry-Hermione shippers will all acknowledge the error of their ways now. I did encounter one who still clamped to her silly belief, using a completely idiotic segment from the book as 'evidence'. I'm not going to say what it is, in case some of you (however unlikely) haven't read the book yet.

I won't be answering reviews this time, but next time I'll answer any reviews from this chapter and the next. Thanks for all your support and I hope you'll continue enjoying this story anyway. Reviews are my only payment, so I really appreciate them. (Yes, including ones with criticism)


	24. Ron's Recognition

****

Ron's Recognition

Chapter 24

"We're in deep shit," Blackmoon yelled, neatly describing exactly what Harry had been thinking. 

"There's no other option. We have to get out of here," Wilson said. "The Portkeys are ready to go."

"You can't leave without the princess. Chances are we've been identified as Rangers. The only way the situation can be salvaged is if we actually get the princess out. The resulting embarrassment and the fact that we'd have the princess would keep the Japanese from acting on that knowledge and complaining to the International Confederation of Wizards. Hopefully we'll be able to restore our relations with the empire if we prove that this crisis would have had global consequences," Faust said.

Harry grimaced. Everything would be solved if they could prove that the situation was all part of a great and sinister plot that went beyond the borders of the wizarding empire of Japan. But if they failed to do so, it would probably be the end of the Order of Illumination. They'd be forced to disband for certain. 

"We have no choice but to see this through to the end," Faust continued. "Listen to Weasley; he'll help you out."

"Don't lose your heads," Ron's voice rang strong and steady through their ear-pieces. "You're lucky that Lieutenant Osman was smart enough to stick his beads to the walls. I have a clear image of all the traffic in the corridors you've passed through. I'll warn you if there's any opposition. Now move it."

They set off, making double time down the stairs they'd ascended.

"I'm guessing the princess has got to be somewhere behind one of the reinforced doors you passed on your way up…or down, whichever way you want to see it. I think you've been pointed to deepest part of the fortress, where potential escapees are meant to end up. The cells are closer to the surface."

Harry knew which doors Ron was talking about. He'd also thought that they would lead to cells.

"I'm getting images from one of the beads," Ron continued after a few minutes. "They're setting up a defence at the second intersection. Seventeen individuals in all… I think they've got some Curse Capsules. They're placing teams of seven in each side corridor, and remaining three are taking up position behind the archway. Be alert, because I still haven't worked something out."

"What's that?" Riyadi asked, not breaking stride.

"The teams in the side corridors are hugging the walls, but they're otherwise exposed. Even without my forewarning you'd have been able to see them quickly enough to get a few shots off at them. There has to be a missing element to this plan, one I'm not aware of…wait a second! Was there a door some two hundred feet back?"

"No…why?" Osman replied.

"Three more wizards appeared in the corridor. They must've come out of a secret passage."

Harry turned around, but he saw nothing because the corridor curved in such a manner that made it impossible to see anything beyond thirty paces.

"I'll leave them a delayed Stun Capsule," Wilson said, taking a Curse Capsule out of his pouch.

"Not yet," Ron warned. "I think I know what they're up to. The party chasing you is matching your speed. I don't think they'll close in for another two minutes, until you're nearly into the trap. They'll try to startle you into taking cover in the side corridors, making it easy for the seven on either side to take you out."

"Why not try one of these routes?" Brody asked. They were nearing the first intersection.

"You're welcome to try, Brody," Faust said calmly. "Of course, you'd be headed into an area that isn't covered by our beads. There's no telling where you'd end up."

"Probably a dead end," Ron's voice came back again. "That's why they set up the trap at the next intersection and not this one. You'd have nowhere to go, and no choice but to go back the way you came. All right…now slow down just a little, let the pursuit gain some ground. Wilson, get ready to drop your capsule."

Riyadi began issuing orders. "Potter, Blackmoon, the corridor on the left will be yours. Bert," he continued, addressing Wortelgraaf by the abbreviation of his first name, "you and Osman will take the one on the right. Yuriko, we'll deal with the ones behind the archway."

"Wilson! Ready…now!" Ron said, and Wilson shoved the capsule backwards. Harry briefly heard the clatter over the collective drumming of their footsteps as it rolled away, followed by a whooshing sound as it detonated a handful of seconds later.

"Effect?" Wilson queried.

"None of them are moving," Ron answered. "Get ready!"

They were nearly at the intersection now. The archway was straight ahead. Harry exhaled and prepared to unlock the massive power contained deep within him. He concentrated…and nothing happened! He must have done something wrong, he realised, as he cleared the corridor and reached the intersection. His steps faltered and he came to a halt.

"Harry! What in the bloody blazes do you think you're doing?" Ron roared through the ear-piece, tearing Harry out his shock. "Watch out!"

It was much too late! Harry felt his body stiffen as he was hexed with the full body bind and fell facedown. Inwardly he was seething. How could he have been distracted like that? He calmed his mind and readied himself to tap into his power again so he could throw off the hex. It didn't work, and he started to panic. He could feel the power, but he couldn't get to it. It was like he was trying to grab a mist that immediately slipped through his fingers as his hand closed around it. 

Helplessly he lay there, hoping the Rangers would get the upper hand. All that time Ron was frantically talking to him, but he didn't hear a word Ron was saying. He was trying to work out what was wrong. Merlin had taught him how to unlock the power inside him. He'd done everything right. There shouldn't have been any problems, because he'd long since realised that Ginny was the key…

His heart momentarily froze up like his body. Ginny hadn't listened to Hermione. That was what was wrong. She hated him and that took away the key that unlocked his power. He should have realised it sooner! The other Rangers had expected him to be strong. Now they would pay the price for his betrayal of Ginny too. It was all his fault!

Suddenly he felt his body loosen up again. The counter-curse had been performed, and to his relief he saw that the Rangers had prevailed. Everyone seemed all right, except for Blackmoon, who clutched his head as he sat upright.

"Must've hit it on the way down," he grumbled. Then he looked at Harry accusingly. "Where were you?"

"Your thoughts were somewhere else, weren't they?" Riyadi accused.

"That's enough!" Faust interrupted. "We'll discuss that when you get back. You have to continue forward. Weasley has some data for you."

"Go ahead, Weasley," Osman said, gesturing for them to resume their double-time jog.

"About six hundred feet from your current position you'll encounter two doors on your right hand side. I just saw four individuals go into the one you'll come upon first. I can't be sure, but I'm assuming there might be something or someone important behind that door."

"Is it magically charged?" Wilson asked.

"Not that I can see," Ron answered. "And I think you ought to speed things up. Four went in but five came out. They might be trying to evacuate the princess."

They all broke into a sprint. Blackmoon turned into a prairie falcon and winged his way ahead of them, disappearing from their sight as he swooped, around a corner. Harry was about to try and tap into his power once more, but he knew it wasn't going to work. He'd been able to boost his physical performance with wand-less magic before he returned from the Mirror Realm, even though it wasn't half as impressive as what he'd been able to do after Ginny declared her love to him. That would have to do for now.

He and Lieutenant Osman began to outdistance the others quickly. Hopefully they'd catch whoever was trying to leave before they got the chance to do so, Harry thought, as he flashed by the first reinforced door and then the second. Seconds later, they were upon the five people. Three wizards and a witch were trying to curse Blackmoon's falcon form, while a smaller, dazed-looking witch sat on the floor.

Harry drew his wand and shot a stunner at the closest wizard. Before he hit the ground, Lieutenant Osman's stunner struck the witch. However, these wizards were much quicker than most, and the remaining two had their wands trained on Harry and Lieutenant Osman before they were able to take proper aim themselves. At that moment, Blackmoon dove and snatched the wand out of the hand of the wizard who'd been aiming at Harry. But nothing could be done about the other wizard, who snarled a curse. 

Harry saw green! The wizard had used the vile Killing Curse. He resisted the urge to look back at Osman and aimed his wand by memory, making sure he was aiming low so as not to strike Blackmoon by accident. Fighting his desire to unleash the same curse the bastard had so indiscriminately used on Osman, Harry let loose with the most powerful stunner he could muster. It tore through a Shield Charm the wizard had cast as if it hadn't even been there, and knocked the wizard back ten feet, before he slammed into a wall…hard. The sound of crunching bones was almost satisfying.

With no more obvious enemies around, he spared a moment to look behind him. Tension bled out of him when he saw Osman clamber to his feet and give him thumbs up. 

"Blind shot. Not bad!"

Harry was glad that Wolfe had taught him that particular trick. If he hadn't been able to do it, the wizard might have got off another shot.

"Is this her?" Blackmoon had transformed back and was bending over the small figure. It was a woman.

Harry crouched down and looked into her face. It was the princess all right…or was it? They'd been deceived once before. "It _looks_ like her."

"Right, we've been had once already," Osman nodded. 

Yuriko, Shinji and the other Rangers finally joined then. It had only been maybe ten seconds at most, but their separation had felt like an eternity. They surveyed the damage, and Yuriko's eyes fell on the princess. "Sayuki-sama!" she gasped. "Is she all right?" 

"Do you have her?" Faust inquired from the Cruiser.

"Let's just say that we have someone that looks like her," Osman answered cautiously. "However, in light of recent events—"

"I understand," Faust replied. "Wortelgraaf, Wilson, sweep her for a Portkey or some form of tracking device."

The two Intel Curse Breakers quickly submitted the woman to a barrage of detection spells while the others guarded the corridor.

"If there's a tracking device, these people deserve to beat us," Wilson said finally.

"Good enough! Potter, grab her and Portkey back to the Cruiser. Kozminski is ready with a spell to see if that person is Polyjuiced. The rest of you will secure the stunned opposition and search the room they came out of. There might be some more intelligence. When we're sure that she's indeed Princess Matsu we'll signal the retreat."

Harry was a little bothered by the fact that _he_ had been ordered to return to the Cruiser. It had rarely happened before, even when he'd gone on missions with other higher ranked Combat Rangers. Because of his power and skill he'd always served as a rear guard, leaving only when everyone else had left. He knew why he was ordered out first. Captain Faust didn't _trust_ him anymore!

He knew better than to complain to the highest-ranking Ranger of the Martial Division. He grabbed the woman's arm and touched the Portkey on his wrist to activate it. He felt the jerking sensation behind his navel again and the world spun around him. He landed flat on his feet in the Cruiser's lower cargo hold, where the Portkey had been charmed to take him.

Kozminski had been waiting for him there. The Medical Ranger quickly performed a spell Harry had never heard before. It caused the princess to glow with an off-white aura for a minute. Then the aura turned blue and Kozminski sighed with relief. Then he scooped the lightweight princess into his arms and stepped onto a levitation platform. It carried them up into the upper deck.

Moments later, the other Rangers appeared in the cargo hold all around him.

"Well, it could've gone better, but no-one got hurt, right?" Wilson said cheerfully. "I need a drink. Who else wants some of Faust's best?" he asked, and stalked off to Captain Faust's private locker.

"I'll have a triple," Brody called, following him.

Harry briefly felt the Cruiser lurch into motion, before the inertial dampening charm compensated for the effects of motion.

"Harry," Ron's voice came softly but urgently through his ear-piece. "I need to talk to you."

But he didn't feel like discussing what Ron wanted to ask him. How was he going to explain that he could no longer live up to the Rangers' expectations?

"I know you don't want to talk about it," Ron's voice returned, "but you have to. It's about Ginny, isn't it?"

Harry groaned. "I think I liked you better when you were an oblivious git."

"She'll come around, Harry. But you shouldn't let it distract you like this in the meantime."

"Easy for you to say."

"Come on up so we can talk about it. It'll stay between us. If you don't, I'll have to tell Hermione about it! You don't want her nagging at you, do you?" 

Harry snorted. "Damn…oh, all right."

He called down a levitation platform and stepped onto it. He rose to the upper deck where Ron was waiting for him. Unfortunately, so was Captain Faust, and Harry had a feeling that he'd listened in on their brief exchange. He shot a glare at Ron, but the redhead just shrugged.

"I do what I must."

"Harry," Faust interrupted. The fact that he'd used his first name was a bit reassuring. Whatever he said now would probably be off the record. "I know your trouble with Ginny is bothering you. If you needed extra time to sort things out with her, you should just have said so."

"I'm sorry," Harry mumbled.

"No, don't apologise. It doesn't matter anymore. Everybody got out safely. Still, the others would like to know about your lapse at the intersection. What exactly went wrong there?"

Harry rubbed the bridge of his nose, a reflexive pose that stemmed back from the years that he wore glasses. He didn't know how to explain this.

"Are you unable to concentrate?" Faust asked, trying to offer him a hook to latch on to.

"It's not that, sir. My trouble with Ginny doesn't distract me if I don't let it. What I do when I have those huge power increases isn't what you do when you briefly magnify your power. I can do that too…that's what I did when I gave chase to the guards who tried to take the princess away. But when I _really_ power up, I tap into the very core of my soul…does that make any sense to you?"

"Not really, but I understand that you use a different technique than standard concentration and magnification." Faust nodded. "Go on."

"It all comes back to the first time I was able to do this," Harry said, remembering the day of the solar eclipse when he'd returned from the Mirror Realm…the day Ginny had been about to marry Malfoy. His mouth soured because of that thought. Why was Ginny giving him such a hard time, really? She'd been about to marry Malfoy! Of course, she'd been under his control at the time. But Harry knew it hadn't started out that way. She'd been willing at first. She had no right to be giving him such a hard time!

"Harry?" Ron waved his hand in front of Harry's scowling face, bringing him back to the present.

"Sorry," he muttered bitterly, "I just got caught in some memories of that day."

"I was remembering it myself," Faust grinned. "I've never seen anything like the way you destroyed the demon copy."

Harry frowned. "I guess the urgency of the situation contributed to that. I was never able to draw on _that_ much power again. But I'm digressing… 

"The reason I was able to unleash that power from deep within is because I found the key. Merlin's memory told me I needed to find some kind of key that would unlock my full potential. It was Ginny…or her love, I dunno. But now that she hates me—"

"She doesn't!" Ron said quickly.

"It doesn't matter, Ron. It _feels_ like she does. And that's why I can't tap into my special power anymore. I tried to do it at the intersection, and when it didn't work, I was so shocked I forgot to act."

"I understand," Faust nodded.

"But now that I know this, I won't even try to do it." Harry looked at Captain Faust. "So rest assured that it won't happen again. I'll use my normal power."

"Captain!" Kozminski suddenly called. "Our newest passenger isn't very happy to be here. She demands to be returned at once…hey!"

The petite princess shoved the medic aside and imperiously strode over to Harry. "You must bring me back. I have to atone for my weakness and save my family's honour."

Harry briefly wondered why the princess was talking to him, when he remembered what Wolfe had taught him. While Faust was the senior Ranger, Harry's defeat of Voldemort and Skaras marked him as the most exalted Ranger.

"Err, we have a very good reason actually, right Ron?"

Ron nodded. "We do. Your Highness, were we wrong to assume that seppuku might have been a possible fate for you?"

"It's the way things are done for my people," she replied coolly.

"I understand that," Ron continued patiently, "but what if your death was a means to bring even more misery to your family. What if your blood would be used to seal a powerful curse over them, like the death of the maho-witch who cursed your family a few decades ago?"

"Do you have any evidence of this?" she asked.

"I'd be lying if I said we weren't basing a lot of our theory on assumptions at this point. However, history has taught us that it's better to act preventively sometimes. If we turn out to be wrong after we've sorted this out, we'll turn you over into the custody of your people again. In the meantime, we can't allow anything to happen to you."

"You will return me after your investigation is done?"

Ron looked to Captain Faust for confirmation.

The senior Ranger nodded. "Yes, Your Highness."

"I have your word?"

"I'm not the final authority, but as things stand now, I can confirm that you will be returned if our search comes up empty. So yes, you have my word."

She seemed satisfied with Captain Faust's answer. "Very well. However, I demand quarters appropriate to my station. This healing ward will do for now," the princess said haughtily. Then she turned on her heel and strode back into the infirmary. 

Harry shook his head. "As if her cell was a luxurious accommodation."

"It was," Captain Faust smiled. "Like a proverbial golden cage, right, Weasley? We saw it through Brody's goggles. He caught a glimpse of it before Portkeying back…Weasley?"

Ron was gaping at the entrance of the infirmary.

Harry chuckled. "Oy, Ron…I know she's a pretty little witch, but I don't think Hermione would appreciate the look on your face."

Ron closed his mouth and scowled. "She's not my type, you git. I just noticed something about her, and I'm actually quite surprised that neither of you have."

"What are you talking about?" Harry frowned.

"Except for the colour of her eyes, she could be Mayumi's identical twin!"

"Honestly, Weasley, you're imagining things!"

"We'll see about that," Ron challenged and strode over to a console. He worked the controls and summoned the data on Mayumi, producing a holographic image of the Japanese Ranger. He transferred it to a mirror screen they used to profile dark wizards and used it to change her eye-colour.

Harry drew in a sharp breath. It was true. "Bloody hell. I can't believe how much different the eyes can make someone look."

"It could be a coincidence," Faust said carefully. "But in all my time as a Ranger, I've learned that most things we deal with aren't. I'm going to find out what this is all about. You can join the others down below. I'll let you know what turns up. Good job, Weasley."

Ron's ears never failed to turn red whenever he got a bit of recognition. "Just doing my job."

Faust clapped Ron on the shoulder. "I'll be sure to mention your insight to the commanders and your immediate superiors. Really, good work!" he beamed. Then he hurried into the infirmary.

Harry gave Ron a once over. "Hermione's really rubbing off on you, isn't she?"

"It isn't just Hermione. It's the training too. I can't help but be observant these days," Ron answered as they stepped onto the levitation platform.

"Really? Well, oh wise one, can you tell me why the Japanese are so eager to kill themselves all the time?"

Ron shrugged. "Culture. I understand intellectually, but if you ask me what goes through their heads, I can't begin to guess. It's their own business, though," he said, wincing. "But to set fire to seven state-of-the-art racing brooms after losing a match, that's a bloody awful sin no matter what culture you're from."

Harry grinned. That was the Ron he knew!

A chorus of cheers rose to meet them as he and Ron descended on the platform. Brody and Wortelgraaf pulled Ron off the platform before it had completely touched down and treated him to hearty backslaps before they hoisted him onto their shoulders.

"What's this for?" he asked. Harry grinned when he saw that his friend had gone beet-red.

"For helping us turn that trap against the ones who set it." Osman smiled.

Ron was lowered down to the ground and a bottle of expensive-looking ale was pressed into his hand.

"Hey, we're not supposed to have these on board."

"Tell that to Captain Faust," Wilson laughed. "We liberated it from his locker. Don't worry, he won't mind. If he complains, we'll threaten to tell his wife why those love-handles still haven't disappeared yet." 

There was on odd feeling in the pit of Harry's stomach as he regarded the jolly scene in front of him. He knew he was slightly jealous of the attention Ron was getting, but no one deserved it more than Ron did.

"Three cheers for one of the greatest strategic minds the Order has ever known!" a slurred voice shouted. "Hip, hip—"

"Hurrah!" the others cheered. 

"May the fact that his girlfriend's got him whipped never dull his wit!" Brody added, giving rise to a new round of laughter. 

"At least I've got a girlfriend, Brody," Ron grinned.

Brody touched his heart. "A good shot, even if it was a tad below the belt. But why buy a cow if ye can have the milk fer free?"

"Milk always goes sour after a while. The cow is the best thing in the long run."

"Hip, hip—"

"Hurrah!"

"And may he be our guide in many more missions to come," Riyadi said solemnly.

"Hurrah!" The Rangers said for the last time and everybody settled down.

The mood was merry and relaxed and Harry almost forgot about his troubles for the moment. The boys were leaving Yuriko alone, since she was talking to Shinji. The young man wasn't looking too happy. Harry could sympathise. He knew what it felt like to leave everything you know and care about behind, even if it was for the best.

After his third bottle of butterbeer, Riyadi sat down beside him. "Are you all right?"

Harry only nodded, not sure what kind of reaction the lieutenant was expecting.

"I apologise for the way I reacted earlier," the Indonesian wizard continued. "Everybody makes mistakes, even you. I know you're going through some tough times. If anyone deserves for things to go his way, it's you. You've done so much for the world and yet you never seem to get a break. I was out of line."

"I don't deserve any special consideration," Harry protested.

"I think you do," Riyadi sighed. "You see, you _are_ special. You're special and you know it. It gives you a superiority complex. But you don't want to have a superiority complex, so you have an inferiority complex about having a superiority complex."

Harry looked at the lieutenant quizzically. "You've lost me."

Riyadi smiled. "It's okay to acknowledge your greater power and destiny. That's all I'm saying."

"Wait…what do you mean? I'm just plain old Harry! The only reason I survived that Killing Curse is because of my mum's sacrifice. I'm not some demigod—"

"Everyone, listen up!" Faust bellowed as he came descended into the cargo deck on a levitation platform.

The Rangers rose and stood at attention.

"Our mission was more productive than we realised. Thanks to Weasley's insight, we've discovered some startling information. The heiress to the imperial throne of the Japanese Wizarding Empire is genetically identical to Mayumi Sakai."

"Told ye they looked alike!" Brody slurred, causing Faust to frown at him.

"Have you been drinking my ale?"

"No sir!" The Scotsman nodded instead of shaking his head, and the subsequent belch released the strong alcoholic odour of the ale.

"Twins?" Yuriko gasped.

"Identical twins," Faust nodded. "I had Kozminski draw a blood sample and compare it to Mayumi's."

"But this girl's got grey eyes," Osman said.

"We're still working on that. Right now we're assuming that Mayumi has a semi-permanent eye-colouring charm on her that doesn't wear off with time and can be removed with a counter charm."

"Why would they have sent her away?" Harry asked.

"I honestly don't know," Faust said, and looked at Yuriko for an answer. "Any thoughts?"

Yuriko shook her head.

"Do you think Mayumi knows she's an imperial princess?" Riyadi asked.

"My guess would be that she doesn't," Ron said. "I don't think it would be too farfetched to assume that Mayumi was kept ignorant of her heritage for her own protection. Such things have happened on other occasions."

Harry fidgeted as Ron gave him a knowing look. His friend's transformation into a master planner was getting quite spooky.

"That could be a reason," Faust nodded. "On another note, it seems Kelly ran into some trouble at Caer Sidi. Malfoy was already there when he arrived."

"Hermione!" Ron groaned.

"She was hurt. But she's going to be okay. I have no details as of yet. They were lucky that someone tried to contact their Cruiser before they were scheduled to report in. Otherwise they might have been too late.

"I'm sorry, but it seems like we're going to have to make a detour to Caer Sidi to relieve the people who are already there. Since most of us were in the field, Commander Ironheart scraped together some off-duty Intel analysts, artificers and some trainees. Even Heidi Gravenstein from the D and P Division volunteered to go. But they're hardly ideal defenders."

"What about 'Her Imperial Worshipfulness' upstairs?" Ron asked.

"I've been told that Caer Sidi has some very opulent quarters. We'll put her in one until we're ready to move on."

"The artificers and medics—" Harry began, hoping that Ginny was one of them.

"She's there," Faust smiled. "You can work things out with her."

***

****

Important! Please read.

I'll be answering reviews now, beginning with the following one. If you haven't read OotP yet you might want to close your eyes and scroll past my answer to CR's review because it contains some mild spoiler-like passages. I did my best not to write down real spoilers, but a smart individual might be able to deduce what happens in the book by reading them.

****

CR: First of all, I didn't say it was going to be Harry/Ginny. I only said it definitely isn't going to be Harry/Hermione. Your answer, however, had a rather sarcastic tone and could easily be interpreted as an attack by less enlightened folk. However, since you've been reading my story I'm going to give you the benefit of the doubt and classify you as intelligent. (Boy, did that sound conceited, or what? : p )

I'm going to break your review down line-by-line for analysis and counter-comment:

1) "Rowling has told the public that Harry Potter won't, as you people so naively believe, stay with the same person forever."

Really? When and where was this statement made? Where can I find a copy to

read for myself? I have **NEVER** heard of Rowling making such statement, and believe me, I keep a sharp lookout for any interview she gives.

Okay, okay, let us assume, for the sake of argument, that I missed that statement. I'll return to this topic at point # 3 because it overlaps an answer to this comment and the next one. In a meantime I'd like to provide some statements of my own.

__

J.K. Rowling Interview with Katie Couric on Dateline NBC, aired on June 20 2003 (relevant portion transcribed from my videotape):

Katie Couric: _Any snogging with Hermione?_

JKR: (wrinkles nose in obvious disgust) _Hermione and Harry? Do you think so?_

Katie Couric: _No, I'm kidding._ (laughs)

JKR: _Ron and Hermione, I would say. Yeah, there's more tension there._

For some reason the last sentence of my transcript isn't in the online version. Rest assured, Rowling did say it. I'm not sure why it was omitted but there has to be a reason for that. Here are some of my theories:

A) The line was considered a spoiler for future books. Having seen the interview, I can tell you that it would be impossible to cut that line out of the interview as it was aired, because Katie Couric actually says "No I'm kidding. We should probably explain that snogging means kissing." While Rowling is still saying "Ron and Hermione, I would say. Yeah, there's more tension there." If I recall correctly, Couric starts her line about the snogging just as Rowling is saying the "Yeah, there's more tension there" part. 

Or... B) Whoever did the transcription for the MSNBC website is a (now) bitter Harry/Hermione shipper. :-) I'm willing to bet it's probably A.

By the way, that's not the first time that JKR has so publicly shot down the idea of Harry and Hermione. There was another interview/QA session at the Press Club on October 20, 1999.

Now the actual quote: 

JKR: *looking through questions* No, don't like hat one. Oh, I like this one... do Harry and Hermione have a date? No. They are...they're very platonic friends. But I won't answer for anyone else, nudge, nudge, wink, wink. [laughter and sound of kids going "Aaah!"]

2) "Do you honestly believe that he's going to marry the first girl he dates?" 

Of course not. And I never made such a statement in the first place, so I don't understand where you got THAT ridiculous idea. Please stop deliberately misinterpreting what I've said.

3) "I haven't read Order of the Phoenix yet, so I have no clue what your -(bad grammar, should be _you're_) talking about,"

Okay, maybe I was wrong to give you the benefit of the doubt and regard you as intelligent. Intelligent people never enter a discussion without knowing the latest information. And since you haven't read OotP and didn't know what I was talking about, you had no right to criticise my statement in the first place. And if you had read the book, you would have known that points 1 and 2 merely add to, and strengthen the H/G position.

4) "but I can assure you that a Harry and Ginny relationship will not last forever."

Once again, I say that you don't know what you're talking about, and I refer to point # 3.

5) "Not that I'm saying a H/Hr will or a H/C (etc.), so just because that's the (supposed) situation now doesn't mean you can celebrate victory."

I'm not celebrating a H/G victory, although I and many others (among them several H/Hr shippers who _were_ smart enough to at least admit that H/G was a serious possibility) agree that Ginny's character developments made her a very good match for Harry. Yet none of us presume to know J.K Rowling's mind, so...

Well, that concludes my answer. The general point I was trying to make: You should have held you tongue and read OotP first. It might not become Harry/Ginny, but based on the available evidence I'd have to say it definitely won't become Harry/Hermione. Now be gracious and apologise so we can continue being friends.

****

Gogirl: Why do you all assume Hermione was pregnant? As for my version of Ginny, you can't forget that she's been through emotional hell ever since finding out about Heidi. When she finally made love to Harry her insecurities were momentarily in remission, but by no means gone.

****

Casual Reader: In Sumerian mythology Anzu is a griffin who was charged with watching over the banished god Enlil. And yes, I did model it after Escaflowne. :-)

****

Lord Dreadnault: Chapter 25 will be over 9,000 words of pure Ginny.

****

nycgal: Well, my story did go AU on quite a few issues.

****

jona: Talk about painful! After Ron's 'furtive glance' near the end I did a back flip of pure joy. I landed badly and sprained my ankle. : p And I'll be wrapping up a subplot in chapter 25.

****

Cami: Thanks for your support, but as you've seen, I can fight my own battles.

****

LadySiri: Don't worry, I find your rants very entertaining.

****

Jake: Thanks.

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The Millennium One: I didn't intend to diss H/Hr shippers. I wanted to educate them.

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Foxfur: I'm glad OoTP is bringing you family closer together. I hope you scrolled past my little discussion at the top, and if you didn't, I hope it didn't ruin things too much for you. And I ask again, why do you all assume that Hermione was pregnant? On another note, Matt couldn't recognise Wolfe's style. Matt joined the Order at the same time Harry did, and it was Nathan, not

Matt, who'd spent a lot of time training with Wolfe. 

****

Lamina Court: Pokemon? I didn't know about that. But I can't say I'm surprised, since Ninetales is a spiritual fox-like creature with special powers in Japanese mythology. And yes, I did pick Shinji from Evangelion. ;-) 

****

Lioness-07863: Mary's father will turn up in chapter 25. And for the third time, (not to just you, but others as well) why do you assume Hermione was pregnant?

****

Jacqueline Hyde: You had some interesting questions, all of which will be answered in due time.

****

Maab: I deem it highly unlikely that Malfoy will turn good. In fact, J.K Rowling herself said that she couldn't understand the fondness many people had for Draco. She could have said that to throw people off the trail, of course, but I doubt it.

****

Starwest4_5: Glad you liked the Star Wars reference.

****

Roastpuff: I know, I know!" *evil cackle*

****

Lady Reaper of the Shadows: Go ahead and believe whatever you want. It just isn't going to happen. Haven't you noticed that Ginny firmly put Harry in his place where Hermione failed to do so? She also got Harry to open up to her where Ron and Hermione couldn't. Hermione can't handle Harry when he's really angry! And if you are going to advocate H/Hr I expect you to at least come up with some canon references to support your claim, which, given the development in OotP will be extremely hard to do convincingly. I'm not dissing H/Hr. In fact, there is an essay written on Ginny's character called: Ginny Weasley: Baby Sister, Best Friend at the Harry Potter Lexicon website.

It is based on observations made in the first four books. _Before_ OotP I was actually inclined to agree with the point made in this essay, _intellectually_. (Unlike other H/G-ers, I never harboured any certainty that they'd get together. I honestly didn't even entertain the possibility. The reason I was H/G before OotP, was mostly because I was a hopeless romantic who would have liked to see a little girl's unrequited love reciprocated) But OotP blew that essay out of the water completely with the revelation of Ginny's awesome character.

I'm not asking you to renounce H/Hr. At least acknowledge that, based on the developments in OotP, the H/G case is very strong now.

****

Dalia: Everyone may believe whatever he or she wants. If they simply say they believe in H/Hr, that's cool with me won't argue. But f they say H/Hr is better than H/G, I feel obligated to argue the H/G case.

****

Shaess: Do you still have the same complaints now that you've read Chapter 2?

I DON'T WANT TO SPEND ANY MORE WORDS ON THIS H/G - H/HR DEBATE. THIS

IS A FANFICTION SITE, NOT ONE FOR SHIPPING DEBATES. SO I'D APPRECIATE IT IF WE CAN LET THE MATTER REST NOW.


	25. Eyes

**Author's Note: **This chapter is rated R for full frontal nudity. ;-)

**Eyes**

Chapter 25

Ginny shunted her anxiety to the back of her mind as she followed the others into the vault. The feeling wasn't alien to her, given the fact that she'd been forced to defend herself plenty of times before. But she didn't think she'd ever get used to it.

Khan had already changed into his Animagus form and charged ahead, preventing one of their foes from escaping into the Portal. Seconds later, Larsson and Ramos, who had been training intensively with Khan and other experienced Combat Rangers, each threw a Spinning Slayer at the Portal while Mayumi threw a third one. The weapons, which looked like a cross between throwing blades and boomerangs, cut through the thin stalks that made up the Portal's frame, destroying it and preventing anyone else from escaping through it, or allowing reinforcements to come in.

Not really seeing any targets that had priority, Ginny picked out a random wizard and aimed her magical crossbow at him. The blunt bolt that was charged with a stunning spell shot out and hit him in the privates. Ginny hadn't actually been aiming at his privates, and she briefly felt concerned. Not for the wizard, but for the fact that the teasing about being a ball-buster would start all over again.

She kept a low profile as she twirled around, looking for another target. Her heart skipped a beat when her eyes fell on a witch who was ready to throw a wicked-looking dagger at Ginny. From the way she was holding it, Ginny knew the witch was well trained and wouldn't miss easily. Ginny struggled to take aim with the heavy crossbow, but even as she was doing so, she was sure she would be too late. Then the witch suddenly twitched and Ginny saw a blunt crossbow bolt clatter on the ground behind her feet. When the witch fell forward, Ginny saw Heidi rise from a kneeling position with her crossbow still aimed at the witch.

Heidi gave her a smug grin and Ginny scowled. She didn't want to _owe _Heidi. But her scowl quickly disappeared when she saw another foe charge Heidi, clutching a bronze statuette that he probably intended to use as a bludgeoning weapon. Ginny didn't have time to take proper aim, so she shot another bolt and hoped for the best. It sailed in front of the wizard, but it served to slow him down and to warn Heidi of the attack.

The Austrian witch spun around and whacked her crossbow across the wizard's head, shattering the weapon but dropping the foe effectively. However, this left her with only a short-sword for protection, and while that may have been enough for any of the Combat Rangers, Heidi was ill-equipped to deal with three more onrushing foes. They stopped some ten feet away from Heidi, and Ginny saw why. One of them had a crossbow and was going to take a shot first.

This time Ginny was ready and shot her own dart, thanking her lucky stars that her crossbow bolts automatically materialised out of the case on her hip to replace the ones she shot. Her aim was true, but nothing could have prepared her for the action of one of the other foes. He jumped into the path of her bolt, taking it for his colleague.

As the reddish light of the stunning spell washed over him, Ginny realised why. He'd known about the non-lethal nature of the crossbow bolts and thus had chosen to take one for the team while the others finished off Heidi. They were taking advantage of the Rangers' standing policy not to use lethal force until absolutely necessary. This was the case because one of the targets could actually be an innocent under the Imperius Curse, and the fact that survivors could convey information that the dead couldn't.

It had been a major point of contention between Professor Dumbledore and other opponents of Voldemort as well. Many of the others argued that they had to target the Death Eaters with Killing Curses instead of stunners. They pointed out that many of the stunned Death Eaters who couldn't be captured due to a forced retreat by the Order of the Phoenix, lived to fight another day while many good wizards lost their lives in the same skirmish because the Death Eaters _weren't_ too squeamish to cast Unforgivables.

Later on, those wizards had learned the hard way that squeamishness had nothing to do with it. Like Professor Dumbledore had suspected all along, many of the vanished wizards had been put under the Imperius and dressed in Death Eater robes and masks.

While those memories rushed through her mind and she desperately struggled to get off another shot, the two wizards were suddenly slapped into oblivion by the flat of a huge sword wielded by…she wasn't sure what it was. It looked like a giant golem. She was glad that it was on their side, in any case.

After the first minute of battle, the numerical odds had turned in favour of the Rangers and soon it was over. Ginny surveyed the scene and noted with considerable relief that no one on their side had been hurt.

A bit farther away, she saw Matt crouched by Hermione's side. His front was completely covered with blood, but when he rose and walked over to Commander Ironheart with no trouble, Ginny concluded that none, or very little of it was his. Hermione, on the other hand, wasn't looking so good.

"Oh, God, Hermione! Are you all right?" Ginny gasped as her eyes locked onto Hermione's lower body.

"I think the bleeding stopped, but it still hurts," Hermione answered, and she took a few deep, calming breaths as Ginny flicked her wand ineffectually.

She was overcome by frustration at her inability to help her best friend. "Damn it! Oy, find that anti-magic device!" she yelled at the others.

"We're looking," Heidi replied. "But we've got to make sure we've subdued all opposition first."

Ginny dipped her shoulder under Hermione's and pulled her to her feet. "The anti-magic field's range ends about four hundred feet outside the castle. We can take a look at you in the Cruiser. What happened to you?"

"Malfoy…cursed me."

Ginny gritted her teeth. Malfoy again! If she ever got another crack at him, she'd do much more than neuter him. "Which curse did he use? Where did the curse touch you?"

"Cruciatus, lower belly," Hermione answered, confirming Ginny's fears. She now knew where the blood came from. A little known and nasty side-effect from the Cruciatus Curse was that it tended to re-inflict the damage done by past curses, as well as just cause tremendous amounts of pain. Ginny fervently hoped that they'd be able to fix the damage.

"Where are the Eskloves?"

"We left them in the secret corridors. The house-elves are with them. Rachel and Sarah were inside the Cruiser when it was attacked, and they're hurt. You have to help them."

"I will," Ginny said reassuringly, although she knew she couldn't do much within the range of the anti-magic field. "I'm sure the others are already looking for them."

"Ginny?" Hermione asked after a while.

"Yes?"

"How did you know we were in trouble?"

"I tried to contact the Cruiser. When no one answered, an orbital eye was sent to investigate the matter. That's when we saw your Cruiser upside down with a huge hole in the ventral hull. We assembled a force as quickly as possible to rescue you."

Hermione nodded weakly.

"Captain Sharif is on the _Hurricane_. He'll patch you up. I've got to go back and help the others comb the castle for any lurking bad guys."

Helga met her halfway to the Cruiser and took Hermione over, easily carrying her the rest of the way back towards the Cruiser. Ginny really admired the quarter giantess for volunteering to come, even though the castle brought back memories of Nathan, and the final days of his parents.

Ginny headed back towards the castle and joined the rest of the group. They had uncovered a cubical device like the one Harry and the others brought back from the mission in which Nathan had been killed. However, this one was intact.

Aberforth and Doc were both examining it and discussing the runes that covered it. While they tried to work out how to successfully deactivate it, Mayumi, Gavin, Clara da Silva and Noelani Winters emerged from a secret passage in the back of the vault. They carried the unconscious Rachel and Sarah Esklove between them. Danielle wore an infuriated look on her face, but seemed to be unhurt. She remained behind while her sisters were carried out of the castle to one of the Cruisers, where they could get proper attention.

Then Ginny saw four male house-elves. The old one up front, with a merry grin on his face, seemed to be the leader. Three others flanked him; one with exceptionally big ears and a vacant expression, a chubby one with a big, red nose and a handkerchief tied to its wrist, and a surly-faced one. They immediately headed over to Matt.

"Master Matthew could use a bath and a change of robes," the old elf suggested.

Ginny agreed. Matt was quite a sight.

"Later," Matt answered. Then he turned to Ginny. "How is Hermione doing?"

"Captain Sharif is examining her now. He's the best mediwizard in the Order. If anyone can heal her, it's him."

"Let's hope so," Matt nodded. "And thanks for saving our hides. I heard that you're the one who discovered something was amiss."

Ginny blushed. If only Matt knew the chain of events that had caused her to call Hermione in the first place. But she couldn't bring that up yet…not until she knew more. "You seemed to have things under control when—" Her sentence caught in her throat when she saw the huge golem make its way over to Matt. Now she took her time to get a good look at it.

It wasn't as big as the mech the Rangers were building. Ginny estimated it to be about twenty-seven feet tall, while their own prototype mech would be roughly half again as tall. But it was clearly a masterpiece in its own right. It had a large, red diamond mounted into its left chest, and two green ones on its shoulders. It was stylised to look like a griffin. "That's the biggest golem I've ever seen!"

"I'm not sure it it's a golem," Matt said. "I was supposed to pilot it. The enemy got to me before I could climb in. But then it started moving all by itself and drove them off. Hey, Logos…" he called out.

Ear-splitting creaking followed Matt's call, and Ginny saw a human-sized golem approach them. It really needed some maintenance.

"How may I be of service, Master?"

"Do you know why Anzu began fighting all by itself?"

"Because you told it to, didn't you?" Logos a speculated.

Matt frowned. "I don't think so. If I did, I didn't do it consciously. You mean to tell me it's possible to control Anzu even though you aren't inside it?"

"It is possible. But usually it takes more time for the bond between Anzu and its master to become strong enough. I was surprised that it happened so quickly."

"Well, I'm pretty sure that it wasn't me," Matt answered. "Are you certain that Anzu doesn't have a mind of its own?"

"I can't rule out that Anzu might still have some secrets for me," Logos said. "But I am certain that it does not have a mind of its own."

They were interrupted as Anzu began gesticulating wildly. It held up one hand and used a pointed finger of the other to trace imaginary words on it.

"If it didn't have a mind of its own before, it certainly has one now," Ginny remarked. "And I think it's trying to tell us something. It needs something to write with because it can't talk."

The golem touched its nose upon Ginny's answer.

"It knows how to play charades," Matt exclaimed in astonishment. "You were right, Ginny. It wants something to write."

"We'll have to take it outside, then," Ginny said. "It can write in the dirt with its claws if we're outside."

"You're going outside?" Aberforth asked. He'd momentarily stopped examining the cube.

"Yeah. It looks like Anzu is sentient. It's trying to tell us something."

"Indeed?" Aberforth frowned. "Well, I was about to ask you to step outside because I'm going to try and deactivate the cube. I'll be more comfortable trying it if you're all out of harm's way."

"You found out how to deactivate it?"

"I recognise a pattern." Aberforth said. "Not surprising. After all, _I_ taught _Yamato's_ teacher about magical artificing. I can see some elements of my own style in there. Anyway, everyone has to get out of here. The prisoners as well as the Rangers who are looking for anyone who might have escaped."

"Ranger Yang…Larsson…Ramos!" Ginny called to the three who were guarding nine unconscious prisoners. "We're going to have to get out of the castle for a while. Aberforth is going to try to turn the anti-magic device off. But he doesn't want anyone to get hurt."

They waited until Commander Ironheart and the others returned from their hunt. When the party returned with another three captives, they made their way out of the castle through the front door, while Ginny and Matt followed the creaky golem into yet another of the vault's secret passages. This one was big enough to accommodate Anzu's large frame, and it answered a question that had popped into Ginny's mind earlier, when she wondered how Anzu had got into the vault in the first place.

The torches in the passage burst out in flames to light their way as it took them well away from the castle and Ginny noticed the slight incline as they neared the end. When it looked like Anzu could go no further, the roof of the passage magically opened up like the wall in the courtyard behind the Leaky Cauldron, exposing the winter sky above.

Commander Ironheart spotted them as they came out and joined them, and they all turned their attention back to Anzu.

"All right, big guy. What did you want to tell us?" Matt asked.

Anzu extended a talon and began drawing letters into the soil.

IT IS ME NATHAN. And then to one side, it wrote: GHOST.

Matt's mouth fell open. "Nathan? Is it really you? You're a ghost? How'd you get inside Anzu? How did you get to Caer Sidi?"

"Who is Nathan?" Logos asked.

"My brother," Matt answered.

"Has he been in the vault before his death?" Logos asked.

"I don't think so," Matt looked at Nathan. "Right?"

Nathan drew an N in the soil to answer the question.

"So he didn't forge a blood pact with Anzu. He shouldn't have been able to possess Anzu…unless he is your twin."

"He is."

"Ah, that explains it, then," the golem replied.

GET IN ANZU EZ. ANZU CALL 2 ME. DONT KNOW HOW 2 GET OUT.

Logos turned to Matt. "This has happened before. One of the former Masters of Caer Sidi took control of Anzu as a ghost. But he couldn't get out on his own until his great-grandson removed the Dragonite stone from the heart-diamond. You will set his ghost free if you do so. I imagine it will make communication much easier," he added.

"All right," Matt turned to Anzu-Nathan. "If you get down on a knee it will be easier for me to get the Dragonite out."

Anzu went down on his right knee, and Matt climbed onto the left one, giving him easy access to the heart-diamond. The diamond's core turned liquid-like the moment his fingers touched it, and his hand went in easily. As he pulled out the Dragonite, Nathan poured out of it like a Patronus out of a wand.

"Oh, that's better!" the ghostly Nathan grinned. "Looks like I got here right in time to save your arse, little brother."

"Nathan…but how did you get here? You died in Georgia; that's a long way off," Matt pointed out.

"I was also lucky enough to catch a ghost ship on the coast of the Black Sea. The Osiris used to be a very fast magical ship before it went down. It's still just as fast, so we made excellent time. The captain agreed to take me to Caer Sidi if I got my living relatives to make a memorial offering for him and his crew. You'd better do it, because they'll come to find me if you don't."

"Done," Matt nodded. "I'll do it as soon as possible."

"You'd better," Nathan smiled.

"How strange," Logos began. "It would seem that Anzu may still have some secrets I am not aware of."

"What do you mean?" Ginny asked.

"Master Nathan is Master Matthew's twin in the sense that they were born together. But I thought they would be identical twins. That would have explained Master Nathan's ability to join with Anzu even though he had never sealed the blood-pact. The blood of identical twins is the same. But this is not the case with this kind of twinning. Yet Master Nathan still bonded with Anzu, ergo I must assume that Anzu has some secrets from me."

"I'm glad that it did," Matt shrugged. "Because if bonding _had_ been limited to blood pacts, I would have been killed before the Order reached me." He turned back to Nathan. "But how did you know I'd be _here_?"

Nathan's ghostly face took on a gloomy look. "I could feel it when Mum and Dad died. I'm not sure how, or why. I haven't been a ghost for very long. But one of the crewmen on the ship told me that a ghost can sometimes feel it when his living relatives die, even if he isn't there. Naturally, I immediately assumed they were murdered…am I right?"

Matt nodded gloomily. "There was something in one of the darts that struck you. Your body turned into a zombie. And killed them."

Nathan sighed sadly. "I'm so sorry."

"Why?" the living brother asked. "It's not like you could've done anything about it."

"I know. Anyway, I was hoping to find someone here who could get word to you, so we could talk. I finally arrive here, and typically, I find you up to your ears in trouble. I turned myself invisible to avoid being banished while I tried to work out a way to save you. You're lucky this big suit of armour called to me like that. Before I knew it, I was in possession of a solid form again. It was a strange feeling, mind you. Well, you know the rest."

"But why did you come back as a ghost? You were very happy. I don't think you had any unfinished business."

"Yes I do, little brother. I told Mum I'd look after you to make sure you'd be all right. There's also something I couldn't take to the grave with me. I've been keeping a secret from you since we were fifteen."

"Secret?"

"You were Memory Charmed. In the summer of 1992 — summer in _this_ hemisphere — you met a girl. A woman, actually, she was quite a bit older than you were. Dad didn't approve."

"Typical," Matt grumbled.

"Hear me out, little brother," Nathan admonished. "It was much more complicated than that. She was a Muggle—"

"Bloody bigot!" Matt spat.

"He didn't disapprove because she was a Muggle. At least, it wasn't the only reason. You changed after you met her. You were sure she'd write to you after the holidays, but she never did. You never got a reply to any of your letters. When we were back at school, you tried to make a Portkey. You were caught, and I suspect Dad bribed the whole faculty as well as the relevant Ministry officials to make an exception in your case and not expel you. Then he asked you not to do it again, but you wouldn't listen. You were determined to find her at all cost.

"So he had you Memory Charmed by the best Obliviators in Australia. They were very thorough, but they weren't thorough enough. You never stopped dreaming about her and you kept calling her name in your sleep. You just never remembered anything of your dream when you woke up. I never told Dad about that. I kept hoping that someday I could help you restore some of your memory. I didn't want to go against Dad because I thought he was doing it for the best.

"Then, couple of years ago, I found out that Dad had intercepted the letters you sent to her. That's why you never got a reply. I would have told you all about right away, but the war was reaching its climax. You were under a lot of stress —we all were — I didn't want to add to the pressure."

That revelation pulled Matt out of his shock. "Bastard! If he weren't already dead, I'd kill him!"

"Don't be so hard on Nathan," Ginny admonished him. She thought that Nathan had truly had Matt's best interests at heart, unlike their father.

"I'm talking about the scumbag who sired me," Matt shot a glare at Nathan. "Although I'm not too happy with _you_, either."

"Maybe it was all for the best," Nathan said carefully, "I mean, he didn't intercept _her _letters to you. She never wrote to you."

Matt paced around to burn off his frustration and disbelief. After a painful silence he looked at Nathan. "What was her name?"

"You only told me her first name…Maria. She lived in Canada, but she was Icelandic. You showed me a picture once. She looked a lot like Gudrun. I actually thought it _was_ Gudrun, when we met her. But Maria was a Muggle, and I guess you'd have been able to recognise a witch if you met one."

"Icelandic," Matt groaned. "Just like Gudrun. Oh, great! Maybe she was right and I don't really love her. Maybe she subconsciously reminds me of—"

"You love Gudrun," Ginny interrupted. She had heard enough. She had fitted all the pieces of the puzzle together. It all made sense now. "Maria _is _Gudrun. She always liked that name better than her own name because it was more international. Maria…Mary…Marie, there's always a native pronunciation in any language, unlike Gudrun—"

"Galloping Gorgons! This woman Matt fell in love with _is_ Gudrun?" Nathan asked, surprised.

"Matt was using the name John Smith that summer, wasn't he?"

"Yeah, he was! Incredible, she was under my nose all that time!" Nathan exclaimed. "But how did you find out?"

"Hermione worked it out first. She called me when you were on your way here, after you told her that you used to live on Oahu. Gudrun told her that's where she met Mary's father, a boy named John Smith. We actually saw a picture of her and John on a beach, and we immediately saw how much he looked like you."

"Was it taken on a beach at dusk?" Nathan asked.

Ginny nodded.

'Then that's the picture Matt showed me."

"At the time we thought it was a coincidence and we didn't look into it any further, because we didn't know that you'd lived on Oahu." Ginny looked at Matt. "But when you told Hermione that you moved to Oahu before you went back to Australia for your education, she made the connection. She thought that Gudrun's meeting a boy who'd looked like you, had been the same age as you, had had the same hobbies and had lived on the same island would have been too much of a coincidence.

"She called me and asked me to do a paternity spell with your blood and Mary's to confirm her theory. I was about to do so when I noticed that the blood type listed in your file was B negative. Since Mary's blood type is A negative and Gudrun's is O negative. I concluded that you couldn't be Mary's father because Mary's father could only have been an A or AB negative. But the information about your blood was wrong."

"How is that possible?" Matt frowned. "I remember that Kozminski took the sample. Did he make a mistake?"

Ginny shook her head slowly. "No, he didn't. Our sampling method is simply limited. Normally it would have been sufficient, since acquiring basic information about your blood was the purpose, and not the detection of diseases. A simple blood removal charm was used. This charm takes a single cell out of your bloodstream without even breaching the skin. In your case, though, it wasn't good enough because you're a fraternal twin."

"What's so special about that?" Matt frowned.

"About eight percent of human fraternal twins have chimeric blood. Sometimes the blood systems of fraternal twins make anastomoses with each other, with the effect that the twins can indulge in a prolonged exchange of hematopoietic stem cells in utero. In layman's terms it means you have _two_ **_different_** blood types because you and Nathan exchanged red cell percusors in the womb. Normally, having blood of a different type excites an immunological response, for example, blood-clotting. But with blood-chimeras this doesn't happen, because at the time of the cells' exchange both subjects are too immature to identify the foreign blood cells as such. After birth, the twins will also keep producing a steady supply of the blood of their sibling because of stem cells that settled in the marrow, and it'll never cause trouble. So you still literally have some of Nathan's blood inside you. When Kozminski performed the charm he must have taken one of Nathan's cells."

"All right, I suppose you know what you're talking about," Matt sighed. "That still doesn't explain _how_ you found out that my blood-type was wrong."

"We found out when Lilia brought Mary to the Citadel," Commander Ironheart said, taking over. "There was a little incident during a field trip taken by Mary's school, involving Mary."

"What did she do now?" Matt asked exasperatedly.

"Nothing. She was pushed off a pier and into the lake."

Matt's eyes widened. "Mary can't swim! She told me her grandmother would never let her. Is she all right?"

"She's fine. Nicolai jumped in after her and saved her." Ironheart smiled. "Quite unexpected actually, because he's been terrified of water ever since he was attacked by Grindylows, and he isn't really the heroic type to begin with. I suppose he's really attached to her…but I digress. The reason she was pushed was actually an innocent misunderstanding. The boy who pushed her in thought she'd been possessed by a demon because of her eyes."

"What about her eyes?" Matt frowned.

"They've changed. She has feline eyes now, like yours…_exactly_ like yours. Congratulations, you're a father," Ironheart said laconically.

Matt staggered over to a large boulder as if he had a bad case of jelly legs, and leaned against it. "I…I'm a father…Mary's _mine_?" he muttered, running his hand through his hair distractedly.

"That's what we were getting at," Ironheart smirked. "Believe me, I know how you feel, son."

"Yes, Mary's yours," Ginny nodded. "After Mary's accident they called the townhouse. Lilia went to pick Mary up from school because Gudrun was in the middle of her shift. Of course, Lilia had the same idea Hermione had when she saw Mary's eyes and she came to the med-lab to confirm it. So then Lilia and I knew something that Gudrun didn't. She thought that John Smith was a Muggle, when, in fact, he _had_ to be a wizard. After all, the cat people never interbred with non-magical humans. So I was faced with the following clues.

"Gudrun met a young _wizard_ who looked like you a lot, was the same age, had the same hobbies, spent time on the same island at the same moment and gave her a daughter with feline eyes. That last one is a trait that very few wizards have, let alone wizards who share all those common traits with you. I knew then that the information on your blood had to be wrong. My first thought was that your results might have been switched with Nathan's. So I checked Nathan's records and saw that his blood type was also listed as B negative. Still, I refused to believe that there was another wizard out there with so many similarities to you, so I decided to do a complete analysis of the blood cells because I knew that _something_ must have gone wrong somehow. The result was rather shocking…both cells belonged to the same wizard. I called Captain Sharif to ask him how it was possible, and he came up with the chimera theory.

"Anyway, that's when we let Gudrun know." Ginny winced. "She was very angry and hurt because she thought that you must have known all along. So did I… but now it turns out that you didn't." At least Gudrun would be happy to know that Matt was innocent, she thought bitterly, because Harry didn't have that excuse. _He_ had known all along about Holly.

"Mary…" Matt whispered. "No wonder she reminds me of myself. She's my daughter." He turned to the golem again. "Logos, do you know about the Consanguinity Charm?"

"Yes, of course." Logos answered.

"Well, you've heard everything…I have a daughter. But her mother and I didn't perform the continuation ritual before she was conceived. Would it work retroactively?"

"It should. There has been an instance where an Archidiaconus procreated before performing the Consanguinity Charm's continuation ritual. The infant was still in the womb, but the child's age should make no difference. The charm doesn't require the offspring to be conceived _after_ its casting."

Matt gave Ginny and Commander Ironheart an uncertain look. "D'you think Gudrun will want to participate? It's a lifelong commitment. That ought to be very difficult for her because she…she doesn't…" He swallowed heavily and tears were filling his eyes.

"She _does_ love you," Ironheart answered.

"How can you be sure?"

Ironheart rolled his eyes. "Well, I do _read minds_…"

"Really?" Logos asked. "You're a natural Mind Reader? You can do so without Legilimency?"

Ironheart nodded.

"Are you descended from Durandana Duvallier?"

Ironheart nodded again. "You knew her?"

"Of course. Her paternal grandmother was an Archidiaconus, after all. It seems your commander is a relative of yours, Master Matthew!"

"Yeah, he and everyone else…" Matt said ruefully.

"Everyone comes from common ancestors," Nathan said. "Many came from few, not the other way around. It's impossible for everyone to have different ancestors… Oh, it looks like Aberforth and Doc did it. They shut the anti-magic thing down."

Ginny looked in the direction Nathan was pointing and saw the device hovering in front of Aberforth and Doc.

"Excellent, now the Cruisers can send a detection pulse into the castle to see if we missed anyone," Ironheart said. "If it's all clear, you can go wash up and get a change of clothes, because you're beginning to smell, Mr Kelly. Ginny, could you do an initial damage assessment on the Cruiser to see if the present artificers can get it airworthy in less than forty-eight hours?"

A groan from Matt forestalled her reply. "Matt, are you okay?"

"Just a nasty thought," he looked at Commander Ironheart. "I ... heard that you're related to Malfoy. If you're a descendant from an Archidiaconus as well, that would give him more of their blood than me."

"Nonsense, Master Matthew," Logos replied crisply. "Since my creation there have been four instances in which your ancestors wed women who were also descended from the Archidiaconus—"

Matt groaned. "And you think that's a _good_ thing? Damn, I did _not_ want to know that, I shouldn't have brought it up…bloody inbreeding…"

"But Master, I thought—"

"Never mind, Logos!" Matt said irritably.

"Don't reject your heritage outright, Matt," Ironheart spoke gently. "By and large your ancestors were good and noble wizards even though their gene-pool was a bit on the restricted side. I'm sure you know that."

Matt nodded mutely.

"The castle is clear," Ginny then heard through her earpiece.

"Excellent!" Ironheart beamed.

"How about taking that bath now?" Ginny giggled and made a face. "You're beginning to smell like a butcher."

"Did the spare uniform I brought survive the explosion on the Cruiser?"

"Unlikely," Ironheart said. "But I'm sure some if mine would fit if we enlarge them just a bit."

Matt cracked a smile. "Your symbols of rank are permanently embroidered on them, sir. That would be fun, a temporary promotion to commander. The others will have a field day."

"Master could wear one of the many fine robes in the castle," Happy, whom Ginny hadn't even noticed approaching, suddenly piped.

"I don't think so. I've never been a fan of those pompous robes."

"You could have a look, at least," Ginny suggested. She was sort of curious as to how Matt would look in one of those robes. He'd probably look good in anything, she thought, at first feeling a little bit guilty about finding Matt attractive but quickly shunting her guilt away when it occurred to her that Harry had _obviously_ found other women attractive as well.

"I'll can help you pick something out," Heidi's voice sounded from behind them. For some reason it irritated Ginny to no end. "I know about these things."

"You do that…stick to what you're good at…I'd better go have a look at the Cruiser, then," Ginny muttered and began to turn away.

"Oh, don't worry about it. Doc and Aberforth are all over it," Heidi said. "Why don't you join us?"

"I don't think so."

"Please do," Matt pleaded. "She'll probably have me try all the robes. I don't want to be her private mannequin."

"You needn't worry about becoming my private anything." Heidi grinned. "Gudrun would kill me, and I love my life. Congratulations on your fatherhood, by the way. That takes care of your offspring problem, doesn't it?"

Matt's face drained of all colour. "I wonder if Gudrun will be so thrilled."

"I'll include Nathan's appearance in my report," Commander Ironheart said. "I'm sure she'll soften a bit when she knows the truth."

"Or I could tell her myself," Nathan added.

"An even better idea," Commander Ironheart nodded. Then he cast a look in the direction of the Cruiser. "Doc and Aberforth _do_ seem to have that under control. Ginny, why don't you join Heidi and Matt?"

Ginny gulped under the Commander's penetrating gaze. She had a feeling she couldn't refuse. Something was up, and he wanted her to go with Heidi for some reason. "All right then."

* * *

Heidi quickly peered over her shoulder and saw Ginny reclining on a leather couch, with a bored and annoyed expression on her face. She sighed heavily. The magical closet she was peering into was a fashion fanatic's fantasy. She'd always wanted one of those herself, but even _her_ parents hadn't been crazy enough to buy her one. At first she'd had to choose a headless mannequin and customised it to Matt's size so only the robes that fit on it would appear. She tapped her wand and robe after exquisite robe appeared on the dummy. But even doing this didn't do anything to alleviate the lousy feeling she had, and the question that kept echoing through her mind. How had things turned so awful between them? She winced at the memory of Ginny's scowling face after she'd saved her from the knife-throwing witch. Normally such an action would strengthen the bond between Rangers, but with Ginny...

Until she volunteered for the mission, she hadn't even seen Ginny since Holly's arrival, and Ginny's demeanour now had shocked the young Austrian Ranger. She knew enough about body language and psychology to read Ginny like a book, not that Ginny hadn't made things painfully clear. The boredom and annoyance in her eyes couldn't hide her true feelings from Heidi. They revealed that her heart had been pierced and her spirit had poured out through the wound.

Ever since Harry's return from his first mission in Japan back in October and the fiasco that had erupted after Harry had mistaken the two of them, Heidi had forced herself to re-examine her behaviour towards Ginny. And if she was brutally honest with herself, she hadn't liked what she saw. She wondered if Ginny would have been strong enough to deal with the mess with Holly if she hadn't attacked Ginny's self-confidence out of spite all those months ago.

Following Harry's departure for Japan, Ginny had thrown herself into her duties, trying to distract herself with the endless cycle of training and work with the artificers. Everyone was walking on eggshells around her, afraid to say or do anything that might send her fragile emotions into another tailspin. Gudrun or perhaps Galatea might have been able to get through to her, but both of them had their own problems to deal with. Heidi, naturally, could be expected to give her a hard time, and she intended to do just that. But this time around, she hoped to accomplish something good with it.

Heidi turned her back to the closet. "Ginny, we need to talk."

"About what?" She didn't turn to face Heidi.

"You and Harry. Me and Harry. You and me."

Ginny turned and gave Heidi a long look that Heidi could swear would've flayed her alive had it been a physical blade.

"This isn't about _you, _Heidi. Harry is no longer your concern."

"Really? Then why were you worried about me taking him away from you?"

"You still want him. Do you think I'm blind, or stupid? You just can't wait to cosy up to him in front of me every chance you get, just to prove that you're better than me! Is this just some sort of game to you?"

"You just see what you want to see." Heidi was getting impatient and finding it hard to control her temper. "I'm very affectionate with my friends. Harry isn't the only one I cosy up to—you must have seem me with Gavin and Alain sometimes! But that didn't bother you, did it? Even Gudrun _flirted_ with Harry on more than one occasion, but you weren't bothered by that. I've seen you and Harry together, and I'd never do anything to endanger the happiness you give him. I know I can be a bitch, but I'm not evil. What kind of person do you think I am? Why do you have this problem with me? I can't believe it's just because I'm his ex and we look alike!"

"_That's_ your excuse? How pathetic! I never had any interest in Gavin or Alain in the first place! I couldn't have cared less if you danced naked over hot coals before throwing yourself at their feet! As for Gudrun, she knew perfectly well that we were together and never meant anything more than a little playful teasing—she even told me so herself _before_ she started 'flirting' with him!" Ginny snorted in derision, then drawled mockingly, "'I've seen you and Harry together, and I'd never do anything to endanger the happiness you give him.' Is that so? Let me remind you, Heidi; last year you just turned up at Harry's memorial and accused me of driving him to his death! How do you _think_ that made me feel? You were a total stranger, and you just went parading around, painting me like I'm the second coming of Voldemort or something—"

"Now wait just a damn minute—"

Ginny rose to her feet, seething. "No, _you_ wait just a damn minute. When I first came to Concordia and ran into you again—I was still hurt by what you said, but I knew it would be better for everyone if I made peace with you. Harry had already been through so much, and I didn't want to burden him with any of my 'problems.' But you didn't want to hear any of it. _You didn't want to make peace._ You just threw it back in my face. You even accused me of playing Harry for a fool!" Ginny threw up her hands in frustration. "What was I supposed to do, lie down like a sacrificial lamb and _wait_ for you to make the kill? You could have backed off at any time and given us some space, some time to try to get to know each other again, but instead, you just kept sniping at me, over and over! You haven't done _anything_ to make this easier on any of us! You didn't give me any choice _except_ to fight back! So how else am I _supposed_ to think of you if all you do is make yourself look…'evil,' as you so eloquently put it?" Ginny's voice broke and the tears that had been threatening finally spilled over. "I'd never met you before…you just came out of nowhere and said I k-killed him! Who do you think you are? What did I ever do to _you_? _Why do you hate me so much?_"

"I don't hate you—"

"Really? You've got a funny way of showing it." Ginny's eyes were cold as she bitterly repeated Heidi's words back to her, "'Harry got out of your sight, and never returned to it… You didn't deserve to gaze upon him again…' 'Harry's _never_ complained about my _competence_… Who knows…_Virginia_…if you turn out to be a disappointment…'" Ginny laughed, but it was an odd, flat sound. "You were right about me, Heidi. I _don't_ deserve him. I'm _not_ competent. I _am_ a disappointment. You were right all along…but I suppose you knew that already. So go ahead and gloat. Isn't that what you want to do?"

"No!"

"Then _what_ in Circe's name _do_ you want?"

"I—I want to apologise."

Ginny looked at her as if she'd grown a second head. "For what?"

Heidi took a deep breath. She knew it was her last chance and she couldn't mess it up. "For being a bitch. _You_ were right, Ginny; I _was_ baiting you, sometimes. As a child I was quite spoiled. I was used to getting what I wanted, when I wanted it…I guess I still am. And when I don't get what I want, I start taking it out on whoever I think is to blame.

"I admit, I do still have feelings for Harry, and it still hurts to see you with him. I _don't_ hate you, but…I do resent your presence here, now. You…you hurt him _so much_ when you turned on him, and to watch him just take you back like nothing happened… Everyone in the Order knows what he went through before he came to us, and what it did to him…yet no one even questioned his acceptance of you!"

"And what about Hermione? What about Ron, my mum, the rest of my brothers… Do _they_ have to go through some sort of test for you, too?"

"You—" Heidi bit back her first response, which she knew would not have helped matters any, and tried again. "No. No, they don't. And you don't, either. You're right, it's between you and Harry, and in the end, it's _his_ decision. But still… I am Harry's friend…so, I worry, I guess. I don't want to see him hurt like that ever again, and I just want to be sure that he's making the right decision. I… I just want to understand _why_."

Ginny nodded slowly. "Then I guess you'll have to ask him yourself…because I don't understand it either. I don't understand what he sees in me. Sometimes—" She swallowed audibly, trying to keep herself from crying again. "Sometimes, I think Harry should've just let me die in the Chamber of Secrets all those years ago. It certainly would have spared him all the grief I've put him through since."

"You don't really believe that!"

"Don't I? I came here…for Harry. And I came here to join the Rangers, because I wanted to _do something right_…to make a difference. And I've sure made a difference, haven't I? All I do is cause discord and pain for everyone who comes near me! Hellfire, Max Wolfe is **_DEAD_** because of me! Galatea is going to have to raise their baby _alone_ because of me! And Harry…I've turned his life upside down and inside out. I've ripped his heart open again and again, and for what? Look at me, Heidi… I'm just a whining cry-baby who can't do a damn thing right no matter how hard I try. Every time I think I've got my problems worked out, something _else_ comes along to bite me on the arse. I'm so tired of fighting hopeless battles! I just keep hurting others! What is any of it for? Nothing!"

"So you're just going to give up? What's the matter with you? What happened to the Ginny Weasley who kept fighting back?"

"And what good did it ever do her? Tell me how to fight _this_. Tell me!" Heidi didn't answer, and Ginny railed on, "How can I be equal to a woman that he has a child with…how can I ever step out of her shadow?"

"Now you know what it feels like to be in someone's shadow." Heidi immediately winced. Damn, it was so easy to fall back into familiar patterns…

Ginny looked up sharply. "I already know what it feels like to be in someone's shadow. _Yours._ The difference is that at least I had a realistic chance to step out of _your_ shadow. But I can't step out of _hers_. Not when she's given him the one thing he's always truly wanted. The one thing I'll never have a chance to give him now. A family of his own."

"'Of his own'…" Heidi looked perplexed.

Ginny sighed. "Let me tell you a little story, Heidi. During Harry's first year at Hogwarts, he stumbled across the Mirror of Erised." She looked up at Heidi's indrawn breath and nodded. "You know what it does, of course…it shows you the deepest desire of your heart. So what do you think that an eleven-year-old boy who'd been left to live with relatives who hated him and locked him in a cupboard for ten years of his life would most want? His family. His _real_ family. His mum and dad, cousins, grandparents, aunts and uncles…people who _loved_ him. Except he couldn't ever have them…they were all dead. He needed a new family, and for a while, he found that with us…that much, you know. But even though we loved him, we weren't _really_ his…" Ginny blew out a breath in frustration, unsure of how to explain. "I sensed, sometimes, like he felt that even though we took him in and loved him like he was ours all along, we were still—borrowed, I guess. I don't know how else to describe it.

"And now… He has Holly now. And her mother. What does he need _me_ for?" Ginny crumpled back onto the couch. "What _does_ he need me for? What did he _ever_ need me for?"

"Ginny… You can't honestly think that he doesn't love you… You and Harry really need to talk about everything that's happened. You've got to forgive him…"

"Forgive _him_?" Ginny looked incredulous. "Don't you get it yet? I don't need to forgive Harry! He didn't do anything wrong, not really! **_I did!_**"

Whatever Heidi might have been expecting, even she had to admit, it wasn't _that_.

A fierce look crossed Ginny's face then, and she lunged off the couch, striding to the hallstand where they'd hung their cloaks, reached into a pocket of her cloak and extracted a small jeweller's box. She turned, strode over to Heidi and thrust the box into her hands.

"Open it."

"Ginny—"

"Open it!"

Heidi hesitantly opened the box to reveal a band that had obviously once been set with a stone. Now all that was left in the setting were a few tiny shards. Heidi looked up at Ginny.

"It's… It was my engagement ring," Ginny quietly answered the unspoken question. "Harry—Harry told me that the diamond would sparkle for as long as I loved him. But it _shattered_. When—" She choked on tears. "—I was talking with Aria Ironheart—"

"The Queen of Jealous Lovers? Look, Ginny, whatever she said… she may have meant well, but—"

"But nothing! She was in almost the same position I'm in now. Except… I never really had a claim to Harry in the first place. After all, if I really loved him, I would never have abandoned him…isn't that right?"

"I—I never said that—"

"But you always thought it. I could see it in your eyes every time you looked at me," Ginny finished quietly. "I know you're trying to see beyond that now…here you are, trying to make me feel better and talk me into not giving up, and…believe it or not, I appreciate that. I do. But…it's over. It's just over." She looked thoughtful for a moment. "Maybe…it's more accurate to say that it never really existed. I lost hope in him. And then he lost hope in me. The rest…is my punishment, I guess. I didn't treat him as well as I should have when I had the chance to be with him, so I don't deserve to have him now. What else is there to say?" She took the box back from Heidi's numb hands and softly closed it and walked back to the hallstand, looking at it for a moment before violently shoving it in the pocket of her cloak.

She stood there, grasping the hallstand with white-knuckled fingers as her shoulders shook. Biting her lip, Heidi crossed the room and, somewhat awkwardly, put an arm around Ginny's shoulders. Ginny stiffened for a moment, then let loose a howl of pent-up grief and rage. Heidi let out the breath she'd been holding and let Ginny cry on her shoulder.

After a while, Ginny's tears slowed and she stopped shaking enough for Heidi to guide Ginny over to the sofa where they sat down, arms still around each other's shoulders.

Ginny sniffled loudly. "I hate this. I _hate_ crying. My nose gets all red, my eyes get all puffy and feel gritty like sandpaper…_urgh_!" She punctuated the last word by punching her fists into the cushions. "Not to mention that it makes me look like a weakling." Heidi chuckled good-naturedly and offered a handkerchief, which Ginny took with a muttered "thank you" and blew her nose loudly.

"Feeling better?" Heidi ventured carefully.

"I'm… To tell you the truth, I'm feeling rather shitty."

Heidi laughed mirthlessly. "Me too."

"I—" Ginny tried to find the right words. "Why? After all this time, why did you bring this up again?"

"Because—I _have_ been feeling rather shitty about the way I've treated you. You asked me once if we could start over. Do you—do you still think… _Can_ we forget it all? Just let it go, pretend it never happened?"

"I don't think so," Ginny answered after a long moment. "I'd like to… I really would, but… I don't think it's possible to forget." Heidi sighed, but before she could say anything, Ginny went on, "Maybe the best we can do is…is to admit that we _both_ made mistakes. But that doesn't mean it all has to end. We can still go on anyway."

"I'd like that," Heidi replied quietly. "I'm…sorry. For making so difficult for you and thinking too much of the differences between us, and not seeing…how _alike_ we are…"

"Heidi… I—I'm sorry—"

"No—" Heidi cut her off. "You only pushed me because I pushed you first, and I pushed where I had no business to. If I had backed off, maybe things wouldn't have got so bad between us; you were right about that, too."

"Still… I should have tried to understand what Harry saw in you, and how much you helped him before…"

Heidi took a breath. "Look…when Harry gets back from Japan, I'll tell him…about all of this. About what was really going on between us, and why. I think he'll understand. I hope he's as forgiving with me as he is with you, though I probably don't deserve it." She laughed, though it came out a bit forced. "You can even be there to watch, make sure I tell him the truth and all that."

Ginny shrugged. "If you want. It's not like it'll change things between Harry and me."

Heidi frowned. "You still need to talk to each other," she said quietly. "And when you do… Maybe you should think about what you've just said—about admitting that each of us makes mistakes and that it doesn't mean things have to end." Ginny opened her mouth to say something, but apparently Heidi wasn't finished. "But since we can't do anything about that right now… In the meantime, let's see how Matt's doing. I'm beginning to worry that he might have drowned in that swimming-pool-sized tub!"

Giggling, they left the room and crossed a hallway to reach what was probably the most ornate bathroom Heidi had ever seen, and she'd seen some very nice ones. Her mouth fell open when she saw the foam-filled tub. Little model ships with real, animated crews sailed around it and Matt was playing with them like a toddler.

"Matt! You were supposed to wash the stench off, not play around. We still have work to do."

Matt rolled his eyes. "Okay, but I could definitely get used to this. The tubs back home in Oahu aren't quite this big, and they don't have these cool boats—" He paused and looked at them oddly. "Ginny, are you all right?"

"I'm fine, thanks," Ginny nodded, managing a weak smile. "The robes were so awful I felt like crying."

Matt's eyes widened fearfully. "Really?"

"No, not really!" Ginny chuckled.

"Well, I said I'm coming out. Aren't you going to turn around?"

"I've seen plenty of naked wizards in my line of work, and I grew up with six brothers. You don't have anything I haven't seen before. Why? Does it make you uncomfortable?" Ginny asked, shooting Heidi a mischievous smile. Heidi shook her head, but she was happy Ginny was feeling better.

"Not at all," Matt shrugged, and without warning he rose out of the water that only reached his lower thighs once he'd stood up completely. Patches of foam covered several parts but left others exposed. The sight caused Heidi to once again lose control of her jaw muscles, and she dimly heard one of the crewmembers on one of the tiny war ships shout something about the huge size of a cannon.

* * *

**Jane Grey**: How do you like the resolution of the Matt/Gudrun mystery?

**Lioness-07863**: So basically, you're saying that you suspect me of killing a possible unborn Weasley baby because I'm evil and you wouldn't put it past me?

**jeff**: Yet another chapter of Mind War is here. The next one will be 10 days from the day this one has been posted.

**Gogirl**: Yup there's going to be a third story. This one is far from over, though. At least 6 more chapters, possibly more.

**Jake**: Here you go! Chapter 26 in 10 days.

**nycgal**: I'll check out your friend's work, but not right away. I don't have too much time on my hands right now. You may have to remind me later.

**CR**: If you read the book carefully enough, you'll see Harry make some observations that hint at R/Hr, the most obvious being when he likens them to Arthur and Molly Weasley.

We can clearly see that Harry isn't interested in Hermione, (granted, he was too busy being pissed of at the world in general) nor Hermione in him. Ron, however, is openly smitten with Hermione. And while she isn't so obvious in return, one can see that there's more tension between those two than between Harry and Hermione, who have no tension at all. (All of this is my humble opinion, of course, and open for debate…just not _here_.)

That's pretty much the main reason why I don't believe in H/Hr, because of R/Hr. But you're right, everything is still up in the air. If Ron dies a horrible death it might yet become H/Hr, who knows!

**Casual Reader**: Yes, I'm beginning to wrap up subplots.

**bane**: Seriously, you're not reading the story carefully enough if you don't know who Mayumi is. She was mentioned as early as Chapter 2 in Existence after Life, and one of the subplots in Mind War revolves around _her_!

**Lord Dreadnault**: You think things between Harry and Ginny are bad _now_?

**Jona: **Don't worry. I'll leave Harry alone for a while and start torturing Ginny for a change.

**Viva**: Huh? You didn't see the princess/twin thing coming? Listen, you don't have to review just to be polite, which, it appears to me, is what you're doing. Chapter 10 is all about the princess/twin thing.

**Joyce**: Ahem, yes, well….

**Lamina Court**: I suppose I _could_ go easier on the exclamation marks. -

**Lady Reaper of the Shadows** and **Dalia**: Ladies, no cat fights in my review column.

**Lady R**, Thanks, that acknowledgement was all I asked for.

**Dalia**, Though I appreciate your intentions, I find your offensive language in response to **Lady R's** voicing of her opinion even more childish. Resorting to those means is a sign of weakness. Always remain civilised.


	26. The Well in the Desert

****

The Well in the Desert

Chapter 26

Harry rubbed the sleep from his eyes. He was grateful for the few hours he'd still managed to get in, even though his mind was still a bit jumbled by the weird dream he'd had. The others were preparing their gear and Harry reckoned they were nearly there. He stepped on a levitation platform that took him to the upper deck. 

He joined Ron and watched with fascination as Caer Sidi drew closer. The castle was much smaller than Hogwarts, but it had an almost otherworldly design to it. He was amazed by its beauty and elegance. Its four corners housed glass spires, and the tower at the very center of the castle was covered in precious metals and gems.

Hwang's communications mirror blinked and warbled out a tune. The face of Cirilo Roverano, who'd started at the Order the same time Harry and had played Beater on Matt and Nathan's Quidditch team, appeared soon after.

"_Typhoon_, this is the _Eurus_. We're carrying equipment and materials for the repair of the _Notus_, so we'd like to claim the landing spot closest to it."

"Right," the Korean wizard answered, though he didn't seem too pleased with it. "How bad is the damage to the _Notus_?"

"Pretty bad. The potion conduits are shot and all of the charms have been scrambled. There's also some structural damage, but fixing that will be easy compared to replacing all those potion conduits."

"Fixing all that and re-charming will take a long time."

"Not really. The artificing trainees Weasley and Esklove are already down there." Harry's heart skipped a beat when Ginny was mentioned. "So are Helga Olsen and Docmor the Diligent. I've also got Gudrun Njalsdottir on board with me." The Peruvian Ranger's eyes narrowed and his voice lowered. "And you're not going to believe this, but we found out who the father of her daughter is and—"

"Save the gossip and prepare for the landing," the cool voice of Captain Kovalenko interrupted.

"Yes, Captain," Roverano said blushing. "Anyway, between the seven of us we ought to have enough artificers to get the job done in about thirty hours if we split into three groups and pull eight-hour shifts. I'll see you on the ground…_Eurus _out!"

Harry frowned. He wondered why the discovery of Mary's father had Roverano so exited. 

"Could you hurry up with the landing? I am tired of this filthy ship," Princess Matsu complained.

"It's _my_ ship and I'll take my sweet time, _Princess_!" Hwang said without looking around. "If you want to get off now I won't stop you, though."

The princess glared but said nothing and stomped back to the infirmary.

Hwang scowled and muttered something under his breath in his native language while he took the ship to the opposite side of the castle. It would be a bit of a walk to the other Cruisers from there, but it was closer to the castle itself.

Harry saw Ron clench and unclench his fists in frustration. They both wanted to know how Hermione was doing. Harry was sure that the first thing Ron would do upon touchdown would be to go and see her. He'd storm down the loading ramp before he could be given any orders of the contrary. Ron headed over to the levitation platform and Harry joined him. 

"I'm sure Captain Sharif has taken good care of her!" Harry said, finally speaking to him.

Ron simply nodded mutely.

"You're worried, aren't you?"

"I just can't shake the feeling that something's dreadfully wrong. Hermione would have sent me a transmission telling me not to worry if everything was all right." He paused, seeming to notice Harry's dishevelled appearance. "Did you get any sleep?"

Harry nodded. "Some. And I had the strangest dream. It was like I went back in time and everything went differently from our fifth year onwards. Remember Luna Lovegood? She was in it too! And a horrible toad-like—"

"Tell me about it later," Ron said quickly. They felt the Cruiser touch down. The instant the loading ramp had lowered enough to allow him to pass, Ron jumped out and began to jog to the other side of the island where the _Hurricane_ was parked. Once there, he sprinted up the loading ramp.

Harry made a move to follow Ron, but Captain Faust called him back.

"Hold on. You can go see your friend, but there is something you have to do first. I need Princess Matsu to be escorted to a secure chamber in the castle."

"Yes sir," he said but then hesitated. "But I was hoping I'd be allowed some time to talk things out with Ginny," Harry added truthfully. "I know duty comes first, but—"

"Harry, I've seen how important it is that you fix things with Ginny." Faust smiled. "All I need is someone to help me escort her. Others will take over for guard duty."

Harry had mixed feelings about the captain's answer. On one hand he was glad Faust understood, but on the other hand he didn't want to be reminded of his near fatal failure caused by his inability to tap into the vast power that came from the very core of his being. "Err, thanks."

The other Rangers disembarked. Harry waited impatiently while Captain Faust exchanged words with Shinji and Yuriko before going to the upper deck to retrieve the princess. When the Captain returned with the princess, the other Japanese wizards fell in behind them while Harry brought up the rear. Captain Faust never specified where he was supposed to walk, and he didn't feel like parading up front anyway.

It also provided him an opportunity to observe a few things. He noticed that the princess was not at all happy to be in the presence of Yuriko and Shinji. She pointedly ignored them, and Harry guessed she still saw them as traitors even though they'd acted in everyone's best interests as far as he could tell. And he also remembered that, according to Yuriko, Shinji had a crush on the princess. If that were the case he was hiding it very well, for he seemed much more interested in Yuriko, judging from the way he kept sneaking glances at her swaying hips.

They went in through what had to be the main entrance of the castle. Beyond it lay a scaled-down version of Hogwarts' entrance hall, although Hogwarts looked Spartan compared to Caer Sidi. There were several human-sized masterpiece statues. Harry thought he recognised the Venus de Milo among them and he wouldn't be surprised if it turned out that that one was the genuine article while the one at the Louvre was a replica. He knew that wizards always delighted in taking the best Muggle art for themselves. But the most impressive thing by far seemed a ten-foot-tall translucent statue of Merlin. If the statue had been anywhere else Harry would have assumed it to be made of glass, but given the fact that the former masters of the castle had been well known for hoarding vast quantities of precious stones, he deduced that it had to be comprised of thousands of precious gemstones. A bit further down the hall there was a life-sized statue of a phoenix, made of Fire Opals. This one was enchanted, and as they passed it stirred on its pedestal, unfolded its wings and sang a beautiful and uplifting tune the way real phoenixes did.

As they moved deeper into the entrance hall Harry could hear voices emanate from the antechamber.

"But Matt—" Harry recognised Heidi's voice.

"First impressions be damned. I don't care if she were the empress of the whole bloody world. I'm not wearing that tiara!"

"It's not a tiara, it's a coronet. Really, Matt, it isn't feminine at all. This one was clearly designed with men in mind. Put it on…you'll look so handsome."

"I'm handsome enough without it—"

The brief smile Harry cracked when he remembered a similar situation between Wolfe and Heidi in Japan vanished almost immediately. Wolfe was dead… 

Faust cleared his throat loudly to announce their imminent arrival and the bickering stopped. Moments later Matt came striding out of antechamber followed by a disgruntled-looking Heidi and two house-elves.

"Captain, welcome to my humble abode."

"If this is humble, the word's meaning must have changed," Harry said as he walked up to Matt. "Impressive collection you have here. Did you check if everything is accounted for?"

"Nothing outside the vault has been taken," Matt said. "The contents of the vaults are being compared with the most recent inventory, but it'll take a while for us to be sure."

"You might want to check more thoroughly—you know—because I think Malfoy would go to great lengths to steal family jewels now that he hasn't got any of his own. Jewel envy…"

Heidi giggled, and Matt's dazzling smile produced sharp intakes of breath and blushes from both Japanese witches.

"Yes…well," Faust began after suppressing a chuckle or two of his own. "Your Highness, this is Matthew Kelly of Caer Sidi. And we're also proud to call him one of our own, for he is a Ranger of Illumination."

Princess Matsu, however, didn't say anything. Harry could still discern the pink tinge on her cheeks as she bowed slightly, and for a fleeting moment he felt really annoyed, though he wasn't sure where it came from. He wasn't attracted to the princess or anything. He knew he wasn't above the occasional bout of jealousy. He'd briefly been jealous of Ron when he'd got appointed prefect instead of Harry. And he had to admit to himself that he _did_ envy Matt's good looks a little. Equally impressive was the Re'em fur cloak he wore over a great-looking set of midnight-blue velvet robes, making him look even more like the proverbial Prince Charming from fairytales. Such cloaks only became available upon the natural death of Re'em, since slaying the magical beast ruined the quality of the fur. Harry had heard about the auctioning of such cloaks and how they never failed to fetch less than one hundred thousand galleons.

The envy was quickly replaced by shame. Matt had lost his parents and brother only months before, and he'd got his declaration of love thrown back in his face by the woman he so deeply cared about. Of course, Harry had a feeling that the reason things had gone that way had partially been due to the manner in which Matt presented his feelings, namely, asking her out of the blue to have his child. No wonder Gudrun had rejected him. But Matt definitely didn't deserve those thoughts of envy. He was a good man…he'd chosen to become a Ranger even though he could have had a life of extreme luxury. And while his abundant wealth probably had something to do with his previously flashy manner and playboy-like self-confidence, it hadn't tarnished his character. Matt _actually_ _was_ every bit as great as Malfoy _imagined _being.

"Welcome, Your Highness. I wish the circumstances of our introduction were different. I hope you'll find your stay here to your liking, despite, again, the circumstances. The castle's staff will try and provide anything you might need. We weren't expecting such an exalted visitor, however, so try not to be disappointed if it isn't up to your usual standards." Matt turned to a merry-looking house-elf. "Happy, please escort the princess to the selected chamber and make sure she is as comfortable as possible."

Happy bowed deeply to Matt. "Yes, Master Matthew." Then he bowed to the princess and gestured for her to follow him.

They all followed the elf up a few flights of stairs, all lined with various expensive enchanted artefacts from around the world. They also passed an enormous blue tapestry that spanned nearly the entire corridor and displayed the Archidiaconus family tree all the way back to the beginning of the first millennium AD.

They continued onwards for another two minutes or so before they encountered Gavin and the impressive-looking tiger that was Sahid Khan. Gavin's eyes nearly burst out of their sockets as they settled on the princess, but a cough that drew his attention followed by a warning glance from Faust made Gavin hold his tongue. But the small wizard still shot Captain Faust an inquisitive look.

"Rangers Carey and Khan," Faust said, nodding at Gavin and the tiger in turn. "Shall we proceed?" he continued, opening the door. 

A large chandelier filled with roughly a hundred enchanted candles bathed the room in light. A small fireplace provided the heat. Harry suspected that it was normally connected to the Floo network, but that it had been shut off for security. Nearly every inch of the other three walls were covered with tapestries, providing good insulation, and a curtain obscured what lay beyond an archway in the wall opposing the one with the fireplace. The huge four-poster in the corner sent a pang of regret surging through Harry's heart when he mused that it was large enough to easily have served as Hagrid and Madam Maxime's love nest. It was so high that Harry suspected the tiny princess might need a leg-up to climb on. Three armchairs and a sofa surrounded the fireplace and a low table stood in front of the sofa.

"The Floo connection has been disabled, of course," Faust continued. He extracted a mirror from his pocket and handed it to the princess. "But you can communicate your wishes to Ranger Gravenstein—the one with the red hair you saw in the Entrance Hall—who will relay them to the relevant people. I believe the bathroom is behind that curtain. If you wish to bathe and change your clothes you can go ahead. I don't think any of the gowns in the castle would fit you," he said, looking the princess over again, "but I believe Ranger Gravenstein is a competent enough to accurately shrink some of them to suit you."

"Or she could borrow one of Mayumi's tunics," Gavin blurted out. "They're exactly the same size."

Faust turned bright red. "Ah, yes, well—"

The princess wrinkled her nose. "_Borrow_?"

"Just a suggestion," Gavin muttered. 

Harry thought he'd probably expected the princess to be more like her twin, but it seemed nothing could be further from the truth. The way a person was raised was largely responsible for that person's character, Harry guessed. Matsu was raised like the princess she was in a society where strict hierarchy was determined from birth, while Mayumi's guardians had had much humbler positions in that society.

"Your Highness, you have to understand that we won't be able to recreate quite many of the luxuries you are used to," Faust droned on patiently. "Although I daresay we will tend to your nourishment better than your captors did. Ranger Kozminski was rather alarmed. He told me your previous diet left much to be desired."

Harry was rather surprised to hear this. But then again, they'd only told him that the room the princess had been confined in was one worthy of a royal captive. They hadn't said anything of her treatment in general.

"Don't condemn things you do not understand," the princess said coldly. "Fasting is an important part of—"

"Your Highness, I refuse to enter this discussion. I am well aware that fasting precedes your cleansing rituals. The fact remains that we couldn't allow you to die. I told you we have reasons to believe something sinister is afoot. In fact, we have made a rather startling discovery since then. My superior officer will discuss that with you when the time comes. In the meantime, I have work to do." Faust cast a glance around the room. "I don't see any books or the like, so if you wish to have company to pass the time. I'm sure Ranger Gravenstein will be delighted to keep you company," he said pleasantly, before he spun on his heal and strode away.

Harry and the others stepped out of the room and Khan closed the door behind him.

"Master Shinji…Mistress Yuriko," Happy piped. "Master Matthew made arrangements for you too. Happy will take you! Follow Happy!"

"Potter-sama—"

"I'll drop by later if you want to discuss something," Harry interrupted Yuriko. "There are some things I have to sort out first."

Yuriko nodded to show that she understood. Then she and Shinji followed the house-elf to their respective lodgings.

"Bloody hell," Gavin burst out once they were out of earshot. "Is the princess ever a spoiled little bitch! Mayumi's clothes are much too good for her." He paused and frowned. "It's unbelievable how much they look alike."

"Not really," Harry flicked his wand and cast a charm on the door to prevent eavesdropping. "The reason Captain Faust gave you that look earlier was to warn you not to mention how much she looks like Mayumi. He wants Commander Ironheart to tell her personally. See, the thing is, they're twins."

"Come again?"

"You heard me." Harry smirked. "Truth be told, I didn't notice how much she looked like Mayumi until Ron pointed it out to me. I was completely fooled by the eye-colour. But the blood-comparison doesn't lie. They're identical twins."

Gavin leaned against the wall, looking aghast.

"Why would they have sent Mayumi away?" Khan frowned.

"No clue. But at least we have our excuse for having broken the rules of engagement. Something _is_ afoot in Japan."

"Bit of a weak excuse, though," Gavin frowned. "We _think_ there's something in Japan so we unilaterally decide to move in…"

"Better than none at all," Khan said dryly.

"True," Gavin conceded.

"I'd like to stay and chat but I'm on a tight schedule," Harry said. Now was the time to sort things out with Ginny.

"Ginny?"

Harry nodded.

"Ginny and Heidi had a nice, long talk a little while ago and they were pretty friendly in the end," Khan said. "So maybe Heidi softened her up a bit for you."

Hoping Khan was right, Harry went back to the entrance hall to look for Ginny there.

Having decided to go back the same way he came, his path carried him into the corridor that was lined with tapestries. 

Partly because his curiosity got the better of him, and partly because he wanted to put off the confrontation with Ginny, he stopped to examine them more closely. The root of the tree began at the beginning of the corridor with the earliest Archidiaconus, their spouses and their children.

"I thought I'd find you here," Aberforth's voice echoed.

"All right, Harry?" another familiar voice followed. But that couldn't be… His head snapped up, and next to Aberforth floated the ghost of Nathan Kelly.

"Nathan…you're back!"

"In a manner of speaking," Nathan smiled. "I see you've been drawn to the genealogy tapestry. Amazing piece of work, that."

"The detection pulse we sent through the castle discovered it," Aberforth explained. "This corridor was very well hidden and protected by some awesome curses. Even Logos didn't know about it—although it could have been taken out of his memory selectively—and the house-elves didn't know about it either. I think this corridor was lost to the family itself for at least ten generations."

"Doc said it was some of the ugliest Curse Breaking he ever did." Nathan nodded. "Even _I_ couldn't see what lay in this corridor before Doc broke the curses, because it had several curses that repelled ghosts."

"No wonder, given what magic this tapestry does. I think the people who hid it didn't want _anyone_ to know about it," Aberforth continued. "Everyone who is related to the Archidiaconus is automatically added onto the tapestry. It knows when wizards die—"

"I'm already listed as dead—" Nathan said. 

"And when children are born, regardless of the so-called legitimacy of their birth. Imagine the potential for blackmail with this knowledge—"

"Or the potential for the positive." Nathan nodded to the very beginning of the tapestry at the other end of the corridor. "Mary's on there as well. If we'd known about the tapestry, we'd have known about her much sooner."

"Whoa…hold it!" Harry said, as he attempted to stop the information assault. "Mary who?" he asked, completely nonplussed.

"Oh, that's right…you don't know!" Nathan grinned. "Mary Njalsdottir, Gudrun's daughter. Matt is her father. _He_ was John Smith in the summer of '93, but he was charmed to forget everything…it's a long story," he added, after noticing the look on Harry's face. "You can ask about it later."

Harry and Aberforth followed him as he floated to a section near the beginning of the tapestry, where he came to a halt and gestured for Harry to look at the bottom. There he saw Nathan's name and the year of death, as well as Matt's name. Gudrun's name was written below Matt's, linked by scarlet coloured double lines. A line extended out under Gudrun and led to Maria Njallsdottir. The Malfoys were also listed in the same section, linking up with the Archidiaconus eight jumps upward from Draco.

"We are all brothers and sisters. We come from a common source. As time divides us it will also unite us. We will be _one_!" Aberforth pointed at an inscription written in a strange language. "That's what it says. Interesting philosophy, and firmly anchored in truth. I reckon that's the reason this tapestry was created, and why the offspring born out of wedlock are not excluded."

"Can you translate the legend for us and explain how this thing works?" Harry asked, glad that he'd finally been able to squeeze another sentence in.

"Certainly…" Aberforth leaned in closer and began to mutter as he read the lines. "Too bad Albus isn't here, he was much better at this than I." He cleared his throat. "It works like most family trees…it uses colour to clarify things. Male names are written in gold, female names in silver…double lines symbolise marriage. Scarlet lines mean offspring with no marriage and the small Roman numerals behind names point to other sections of the tapestry where the names appear—you know—because of more interrelations between the Archidiaconus descendants. The large and boldly written Roman numerals point to other sections when a certain section runs out of space and a tree is continued on another section." Aberforth gasped. "Oh my…the creator certainly was far ahead of his time. Do you see that blank patch in the tapestry? If you write a name with your wand the tapestry shows you the sections you can find those names…provided they're on it, of course."

"Right, let me see if I understand." Nathan floated very closely to Harry, who shivered with the sudden cold. "This tapestry works a bit like the Muggle-born detectors employed by the governments for magic?"

"I suppose you could see it that way," Aberforth nodded. "Yet the means for Muggle-born detection are limited to Muggle-borns _and_ limited to the territory that falls under the government in question. This tapestry keeps track of the descendants world-wide, and it includes Squibs as well—"

"What about pureblood and half-blood detection?" Harry asked suddenly. "How does the Ministry go about that? I've always wondered, really."

"There are separate means to detect them. In our Ministry they're hidden in the Department of Mysteries. I've never seen it, but I know how it works. It isn't nearly as powerful and sophisticated as this tapestry. For instance, I can only tell when wizards are born, and not when they die as well, like this one. And it isn't set up like this one. It's more like a filing system."

"Can it tell who people's actual fathers are, like this tapestry?"

"Yes. It goes without saying that the few individuals who have clearance to access this detection device have lots of secrecy charms placed upon them, of course, lest they try to use the information for their own benefit. I understand a witch who tried was so heavily cursed that she became a living vegetable, much like someone who had recently been kissed by a Dementor. The best efforts of the Healers in St. Mungo's couldn't change her condition."

Nathan chuckled. "Don't worry son, you can marry any of those girls. Your daddy ain't your daddy!" he added, doing his best to imitate a female voice.

"I imagine that was part of the reasoning behind the secrecy charms, yes," Aberforth smiled. "Now, let us see how this thing works. A name that is connected with people we know…"

He drew his wand and traced _McKinnon _in the blank spot. The name shimmered with a yellowish light before it was drawn into the tapestry. Seconds later several Roman numerals appeared in its place. This meant that the McKinnons also had several links leading up to the Archidiaconus.

Aberforth prodded a boldly written numeral. "That one will show us the Elric McKinnon's part of the tree, I believe." They began walking along the corridor until the found the relevant section. "Elric ought to lead us to the Weasleys and Li's through his daughters. They ought to be somewhere near the bottom…"

"Ah, there they are!" Nathan suddenly exclaimed. 

And indeed, at the bottom more to the right, Harry saw the Weasleys he knew and loved. Fleur Delacour appeared under Bill linked by the marriage symbol, and below them Amelie and Alroy were written. To Harry's surprise, there was yet another line that led to an empty spot preceded by a golden dot. "Aberforth…look here, under Bill and Fleur. What does it mean?"

"Ah," Aberforth's blue eyes glinted with delight. "There is going to be another Weasley soon…a boy."

Harry grinned. "Bloody hell, Bill sure isn't wasting any time!" Maybe he could use this as a hook to open up a conversation with Ginny. Then again, maybe not. It might take them to a topic Harry wanted to avoid…Holly. Sighing, he continued to explore the Weasley tree. Charlie was linked to Jasmine Wolfe by a scarlet line and little Charlie popped out below them. There was a silvery dot below Percy and Hannah, and next to Grace Weasley, indicating even further expansion of the Weasley clan. Then came Fred and George with their children. Angelina appearing twice, first as Fred's wife, and then as George's. Finally he reached Ron…and what he saw made his spirits plummet. Hermione's was linked to him though scarlet lines, and below them there was a blank space preceded by a tiny golden dot. But both Hermione and the dot seemed to be fading from the tapestry again.

"No, Hermione!" he groaned. He realised that Ron's instincts had been right.

"Oh dear, I'm sorry you had to find about it like this!" Aberforth said sadly. "She was pregnant, and her injuries caused her to miscarry."

"Who - did - this - to - her?" Harry asked in between heaving breaths, even though he had a fair idea what the answer was going to be.

"I think you already know who," Aberforth answered, confirming his suspicions. It was Malfoy!

"I don't care what Ranger Command does to me," Harry said, trying his best not to break into a rage as he felt the anger rising to the surface, "but next time I meet up with Malfoy, I won't bother trying to bring him in alive."

"You don't mean that," Aberforth said calmly.

"Of course I mean it!" Harry snarled. "And I'll make sure he experiences pain unlike any he's ever felt before! I'll—"

"Hurt me too if I try to stop you?" Aberforth said sharply, popping the balloon that was Harry's rage.

Harry looked miffed. "I didn't mean it like that. And why would you stop me, anyway?"

"Because Draco Malfoy knows things about Anastasiou's organisation that could help us put an end to them so much sooner. Is it right for so many people to continue suffering under Anastasiou's exploits just because _you_ wanted to get revenge?"

"I…no, of course not," Harry sighed. "It's just that—"

"Ron and Hermione didn't deserve to suffer either."

"I _hate_ him, Aberforth. Malfoy's just like a weed, he won't go away!"

"You shouldn't hate him, and you shouldn't regard him as nothing more than exactly that…_a weed_. For one does not hate as long as one has a low esteem of someone—"

"But only when one esteems him as an equal or a superior," Harry finished. "Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche. Damn you…I _hate_ it when you're right!"

"I'm honoured," Aberforth smiled.

Harry nodded. As always, Aberforth had read him like a book, and rewritten the appropriate passages. He scanned the bottom of the tapestry absently as he pondered these new developments, and managed to notice that Charlie, Jasmine and Charlie Jr appeared again on the tapestry under Rose McKinnon's line instead of Violet McKinnon's. He also saw that the blank spot under Wolfe and Galatea had a gold dot, and with great difficulty his strained mind deduced that Galatea was going to have a son. "I need some air," Harry said.

Aberforth nodded sympathetically and wrapped his arm around Harry. "You also look like you could use a drink. Byron Kelly had an exquisite stash of whisky. I'm sure the lord of the castle wouldn't mind if we indulged ourselves. I'm sure he'll want to join us…oh, sorry, Nathan. It's rather insensitive of me to mention the delights of life."

"Don't worry about it," Nathan said. "I already feel the afterlife calling to me. I wasn't afraid to die, and the reason I lingered has been resolved. I'll just say goodbye to Helga and my niece before I go on."

The ghost sank through the floor, taking a shortcut to the entrance hall.

"Well, how about that drink?" Aberforth asked. 

"We'll do it after I see Hermione," Harry said. His friends had the utmost priority. Ginny would have to wait a _little_ longer. His insides squirmed around with guilt. He knew he was only rationalising ways to put off the inevitable. "Can Hermione be healed?" he asked, as they began walking to the Entrance Hall.

"Imhotep said it was beyond his ability to heal. He _did _send images and detailed descriptions of her injuries to some of the best Healers in the world, but he told me the most optimistic diagnosis gave Hermione a one in five thousand chance of ever having children again."

"How far was she along?"

"The foetus was about three weeks old…barely visible."

Harry sighed. That didn't make him feel any better about things. 

They continued in silence towards Entrance Hall and arrived there just in time to see Mary storm across the hall and leap into Matt's arms. She was laughing and crying at the same time as he twirled her around, and Matt had tears in his eyes too. Then Mary whispered something in Matt's ear and he lowered her to the ground. She took his hand and dragged him over to Gudrun, whose own eyes were wet and puffy. Harry felt the tension in the atmosphere as they just stared at each other for nearly a whole minute before Matt reached over with his free hand and took one of Gudrun's. Then he released Mary's hand and took Gudrun's other hand.

Aberforth and Harry weren't the only ones in the Entrance Hall. Captain Kovalenko, Faust and Commander Ironheart were there. So was little Nicolai, oddly enough. Harry reckoned Mary had somehow convinced them to bring him along. The two new Combat Rangers, Ramos and Larsson, tried their best not to openly gaze at the scene unfolding in front of them. Heidi and Ginny were also there. Heidi was dabbing at her eyes with a handkerchief and completely ignoring the flashing mirror in her hand, while Ginny had a look of longing in her eyes. She hadn't noticed Harry. In fact not one of them had spotted Harry and Aberforth, and no one was making a sound. Matt's voice easily carried across the hall when he finally spoke.

"I'm sorry, I can't remember…not while I'm awake. If it were up to me, I'd sleep forever, if only so I could remember you in my dreams." He let go of one of her hands and brought his hand to her face to wipe away her tears. "They might have taken my memories, but they haven't taken my love." His hand disappeared into his pocket and reappeared with a shimmering ring. Then he went down on one knee. "I know I haven't been very mature around you before my family died, but if you give me a chance I might surprise you. Please…will you marry me?"

Gudrun didn't answer immediately and the tension heightened. The pained look on her face didn't bode well, in any case. "How can you possibly know?"

"Gudrun…please," Matt pleaded. "Let me be a father to my daughter."

"Is that why you want me to marry you?" Gudrun suddenly said angrily. "For Maria's sake?"

"No! I just want _you_ to be in my life _forever_. My heart is telling me it's the right thing. I know the way I used to act around you didn't make things very clear, but I knew even _then_ that I'd die to keep you safe. I'd have asked you to marry me a week after we met…again…but we both know you wouldn't have taken me seriously. Gudrun, recently I've only been at peace in your presence, and you and Mary mean more to me than anyone else…anything else. What do I have to do to convince you that I'm serious about this? Ever since you told me you didn't love me I've barely eaten or slept. I feel like my life isn't worth anything without you in it." He stood up and pointed to the large statue of Merlin. "That statue of Merlin is made of flawless diamonds. It's worth millions of galleons, but without you to share it with it might as well be a pile of shit! I'd give _everything I own_ away if that would get me into your life. I'd give it all away for just _one day_ with you!"

Slowly, a smile appeared on Gudrun's face. "Now, now, don't do anything rash," she said, before she pulled his face down for a kiss. When this proved to be a bit awkward because of the nearly ten inch difference in height, Gudrun jumped, draping her arms around his neck and wrapping her legs around his waist before she resumed kissing him.

Aberforth chuckled softly and nudged Harry in the ribs. "Wild one, isn't she? In my day it was unthinkable for a witch to jump a wizard like that in public."

"Gudrun's never been concerned with what other people think." Harry shrugged. He wanted to feel happy for them, he really did. But he couldn't produce any happiness no matter how hard he tried.

Gudrun and Matt finally broke apart, red-faced and breathing heavily and Matt asked. "Was that a yes?"

"I decided I'd say yes right after Commander Ironheart and Nathan told me what happened," Gudrun grinned.

"So why the whole uncertainty act?"

"I wanted to see you beg,"

"So you _will_ marry me?" Matt asked hopefully.

"Try and stop me!" Gudrun growled before she covered his mouth with hers again.

"Hey, break it up. There will be plenty of time for that later!" Mary pouted as she tugged at Matt's robes to get his attention.

This elicited a chorus of giggles and chuckles from all those who were present, except Harry, who forced a smile onto his face. Commander Ironheart strode over to the couple, clearing his throat. 

Matt and Gudrun broke apart, smiling sheepishly, and Matt ruffled his daughter's hair. "All right, happy now?"

"Thrilled!" Mary beamed. "When's the wedding?"

"I was about to ask the same question," Harry heard Commander Ironheart say at the periphery of his hearing. His mind had already begun to dwell on Hermione's condition as he was trying to come up with words that would ease her pain. But he realised that everything he thought of would sound rather hollow. Inevitably, as his eyes strayed over to Ginny, he wondered if she'd know what to say. His stomach flip-flopped as their eyes met, and although he couldn't be sure, it looked like she wanted to talk to him. Maybe he ought to straighten thing out with Ginny first, so they could go to Hermione together.

The glint in Ginny's eyes suggested that she was thinking the same thing, but just when the hesitant look in her eyes solidified into resolve, Harry was suddenly bowled over.

"Harryharryharry!" a voice he hadn't expected to hear for a while rattled. His shock transformed into delight and his sadness for Hermione even diminished. Two very strong arms were wrapped around his body, and his attacker rubbed the side of her face against his chest affectionately, almost in a catlike way.

"What's she doing here?" Commander Ironheart's voice bellowed.

"I saw her in the kitchens and she missed Harry and I knew we might see Harry so Nicolai distracted Captain Kovalenko and my Mum and Cirilo and I smuggled her on the cruiser and hid her inside an empty crate," Mary rattled.

Harry looked at Ironheart, who had an expression of pure incredulity on his face. Mary looked back at him defiantly, daring him to berate her. Then Ironheart shifted his gaze from Mary to his grandson, who looked heartily embarrassed, to Gudrun. "And what do _you_ have to say about this?"

Gudrun, however, had a tender look in her eyes and Harry had a feeling she wasn't about to scold Mary anytime soon. "She called me _Mum_…"

Ironheart rolled his eyes and muttered something about parenting. He strode over to Nicolai, grabbed his grandson by the ear firmly and began tugging the whimpering boy to the castle door.

"Hey! Let him go!" Mary screamed and ran up to Commander Ironheart, kicking him in the shins with such finesse it would have made several martial artists proud. The man yelped and released his grandson, and Mary yanked Nicolai away and engulfed him in a hug. She glared at Ironheart. "It was _my _idea, leave him out of it!"

"Oh God, we've spawned a monster…" Matt said to Gudrun, although he was looking rather amused with the whole thing.

Commander Ironheart rubbed his leg. "Would you expect Nicolai to jump after you if you—" The commander stopped in mid-sentence and began to smile. "Hmmm, he probably would, eh! But both of you will be punished for this! They must've noticed Holly's gone. Nehanda must be in a state…the panic…"

"Mary!" Gudrun's voice cut like a knife. "Tell Commander Ironheart you're sorry!"

Mary let go of Nicolai, who looked so embarrassed for having been coddled by Mary that he probably felt like evaporating on the spot. "But—"

"Or I'll make you wish you were never born, and I'll write to your grandmother and _she'll_ make you wish the same thing!"

Mary blushed and said demurely, "Sorry, Mr Ironheart."

"Apology accepted." Ironheart smiled indulgently.

Harry grinned and tried to catch Ginny's eye. She was still looking in his direction, but she had a shadow on her face now. Harry instantly knew she was looking at Holly. "Holly, let me up…please…" But it was already too late. Ginny turned away and hurried out of the castle. He groaned in defeat.

"I'm sorry, da— Harry. I didn't mean to make your Ginny mad at you."

__

His Ginny. How he wished that were true. "It isn't your fault, Holly. It's mine…" he trailed off, not wanting to discuss it. He scrambled to his feet. He took a good look at Holly and realised she no longer had a mane of wild black hair. Someone hat cut it, and while it still looked wild, it looked deliberately so. "You look nice. Who cut your hair?"

"A man named Sergio who lives in the city. He earns gold for cutting hair."

Harry had an idea who Holly was talking about. Scuttlebutt was that he was Captain Sharif's ex-boyfriend.

"Well, he did a good job on you. Come, we're going to see Hermione. Aberforth?"

The old wizard nodded.

They walked to the _Hurricane_ in complete silence. As they drew closer, he walked ever more slowly and Aberforth stopped to allow him to catch up. Harry wouldn't have minded being transfigured into a snail right then.

From the corner of his eye he saw Helga sitting on the frozen grass in front of the Cruiser and weeping softly while Nathan floated beside her. Harry caught some snippets of his words. "…don't cry…beautiful…someone else…" He had half a mind to stop and listen, if only to postpone having to face Ron and Hermione. He still had no idea what he was going to say.

Inevitably, they reached the Cruiser and crowded onto the levitation surface that took them to the upper deck where the bridge and sickbay were situated. Captain Sharif, who was lounging in the pilot's chair and seemed to be keeping an eye on the communications mirror, nodded towards his primary workspace, conveying that it was okay to go in.

Sharif's acknowledgement had injected some steel into his spine, but he felt his resolve crumbling once more as Hermione's sobs drifted through the infirmary's door. But a squeeze on his hand from Holly's salvaged the last remains of his courage and before he changed his mind he resolutely stepped into the infirmary, where he found a crying Ron sitting across the head of Hermione's bed while he held her tightly. They barely seemed to notice their guests.

Harry was grateful to Aberforth for initiating communication. "Hermione…I know anything I say to ease your pain will sound hollow. But I beg your indulgence anyway." The old wizard stroked his beard as he collected his thoughts. Then he suddenly spoke, taking an angle Harry hadn't expected. "I'd like to think as all of you as my children. Though I never sired any I can call my flesh and blood, I believe one should transcend that limit in one's thinking and be a parent of sorts to the younger generation, offering support and guidance. Being a mother isn't simply a matter of having children. To think that is as absurd as believing that having a wand makes you a witch. Yet I will not deny that the fact that I never experienced what you are experiencing makes me ignorant of your feelings deep down. Parents can not always help their children, for everyone's path in life is different.

"Ron…" Aberforth met Ron's almost defiant stare unflinchingly. "You have been schooled in thinking like others do. I have not, but I'm very old and as such have some ability to see what a man might be thinking. Right now, you are not receptive to any words of comfort. I imagine you want to find Mr Malfoy and kill him. I believe Herman Melville phrased it rather eloquently in Moby Dick: 'God help thee, old man, thy thought have created a creature in thee, and he whose intense thinking thus makes him a Prometheus, a vulture feeds upon that heart forever, that vulture the very creature he creates.' Your anger will only burn _you_, Ron, not Malfoy. That's why you _will_ have to let it go. Not only for your own sake, but for Hermione's as well."

Harry could practically see Ron deflate from within. His rigid posture relaxed and he readjusted his arms around Hermione. "That's—"

"Easy for me to say…I know. But it doesn't detract from the truth of it. I'd also like to add that you shouldn't lose hope. What makes the desert beautiful is that somewhere it hides a well. New and more powerful spells and potions are always being discovered. Who knows, once Miraculum Weed becomes more readily available—"

"Captain Sharif talked about that," Hermione said softly. "But I know how difficult is it to develop stronger potions. I don't want to get my hopes up. I'll have to accept that I'll never have any children." Her hand went to her belly and she inadvertently exposed it, showing badly bruised skin covered by healing ointment. Harry shuddered as he imagined how bad the internal damage must have been.

"No!"

Harry looked at his daughter inquisitively. "What do you mean?"

"Mother said I was the best thing that ever happened to her. Ron and Hermione have so much love to give, they deserve to have children." She let go of Harry's hand and skipped over to the bed. Then she raised her right hand, clenching it into a fist and unclenching it once more as her face scrunched up in concentration. It turned radiantly blue and filled the entire room with its light. Then she placed her hand over Hermione's injury and held it there.

Hermione gasped, and Ron tried to get up and stop Holly, but Hermione grabbed his arms and held him close. 

It was over as suddenly as it had started and Holly staggered backwards. Harry stepped forward quickly and steadied her. He saw the exhaustion in her eyes and sheen of sweat that covered her face. But she had a serene smile on her face.

"Oh…it's gone!" Hermione was gently prodding her belly. "The bruises and the pain are gone!"

"What is going on here? What was all that blue light?" Sharif asked as he limped into the room.

"I think Holly healed me," Hermione said and pointed to her belly. Harry saw that the bruises were gone. "I don't feel any pain in my lower back anymore. I think she healed my internal injuries too."

Sharif drew his wand and summoned his examination goggles from a shelf. He put them on and tapped a small button in its side. He moved in closer to Hermione and peered at her through the goggles. "By the old Imhotep, this goes beyond what we are capable of. Unless these goggles are deceiving me I am looking at a textbook example of a uterus in perfect health. Are your other injuries have been healed as well." He pushed the goggles ono his forehead and looked at Holly with awe. "It's a miracle! Will she remain like this or will the healing wear off?"

"The healing won't be undone," Holly said. 

"Does this mean I can conceive?" Hermione asked hopefully.

"With a man like Ron, it will be very difficult not to," Sharif grinned. "All you need to worry about now is how to prevent having a litter."

Captain Sharif's words helped the new reality sink in, adding to Harry's elation. "Holly, you healed Hermione!" he said, throwing his arms around her and crushing her to his chest. "Holly, Holly, Holly, you're the best thing that ever happened to me!"

"Ginny!" Hermione gasped. "Ginny, you're not going to believe this…Holly completely restored me to health. I can have children!"

Ginny was there? Harry whipped around and saw Ginny standing in the doorway.

She was smiling, but it didn't quite extend to her eyes. They looked shiny with unshed tears. "I'm happy for you, congratulations." Then, without another word, she hurried away.

"What's wrong with _her_?" Ron frowned.

"Honestly, you can still be such a dense git sometimes," Hermione huffed.

"What are you talking about?"

Harry suspected what Hermione was getting at. He wondered how much Ginny had heard before she appeared in the door. Had she heard him say Holly was the best thing that ever happened to him? But he still didn't understand why she'd react that way. Holly was his _daughter_…

Hermione shook her head. "I'll explain later," she said, casting a furtive look at Holly.

"Ah," Ron had caught on, and so, apparently, had Holly.

"I don't understand. I don't want to keep Harry from her," she said. 

Hermione hopped off the bed. "She knows that, but it isn't that simple."

"Why not?"

"It has to do with her feelings. But there is very little we can do about it right now."

"Ms Granger? Already up and about?"

The new arrival was a very surprised looking Commander Ironheart.

"Thanks to Draconian intervention," Sharif smiled. "It seems Holly's healing powers are considerable. What can I do for you?"

Ironheart bent down and winced as he rubbed him leg. "Heal the bruise on my shin."

Sharif shook his head. "You should pay attention to where you're going rather than watching the woman you walk past."

"Very funny, Imhotep. If you must know, my future granddaughter-in-law kicked me."

"Mary?" Sharif laughed. "Yes, I understand she and Nicolai are quite inseparable. But don't you think you're getting a bit ahead of yourself?"

"You'd agree with me if you'd seen them together a while ago…ah, that's better!" Ironheart sighed as Sharif placed the tip of his wand against the little lump on his leg. "I'm also here to let you know Mayumi will be up here to have that eye-colour charm reversed…after she recovers from her shock."

"Mayumi has a different eye-colour?" Hermione frowned.

"That's right," Ron said. "I would've told you, but it was the furthest thing from my mind."

"Well, I'm all better now, so fill me in!" she said eagerly. 

"In a nutshell, Mayumi and Princess Matsu are twins, _identical_ twins. That dimwit—" Ron nodded at Harry "—didn't notice the similarity between the two. Can you believe that? It would be like not noticing the similarity between Parvati and Padma…Susie and Millie…"

"What? Identical twins? Goodness, this opens up a whole new can of worms, doesn't it?" Hermione said.

"Hopefully they're tasty worms, because I hate it when fishing for clues takes up too much time," Ironheart said.

"And you didn't notice they were twins?" Hermione asked Harry incredulously.

"It wasn't just me!" Harry protested. "None of the others saw the similarity when we rescued her. Neither did Wolfe, back at the…" Wolfe! Why did the mention of Wolfe suddenly bother him so much? There was something, but he couldn't quite put his finger on it. He concentrated. Merlin had taught him that the answers lay within. He had to clear his mind…

"Harry? Are you—"

Harry raised his hand to cut off the distraction. Flashes of relevant memories emerged. "_It knows when wizards die—_" Aberforth had said. "_I'm already listed as dead—_" Nathan had added. Harry had seen the gold dot at the end of the line that extended out below Wolfe and Galatea. But… "Aberforth, the tapestry can tell when a wizard dies?"

"Yes?"

"Then how come I didn't see the year of death below Wolfe's name?"

***

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Elessar: How could you tell after a single chapter?

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Bane: It appears you don't read my replies carefully either. I didn't say the subplot was in EaL. It is in Mind War, and I mentioned Mayumi enough times for a reader to remember her. And with reading carefully I mean re-reading both stories at least once. I hide lots of clues to future developments away in the chapters, most of which aren't as obvious as the similarities between Matt and Mary. But you're right. There are slightly too many characters with significant dialogue.

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nycgal: Hope you've had a good time at camp. 

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Gogirl: At least 6 more chapters, as many as 10. And as you can see, the truth about Wolfe will be revealed soon.

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RLupin1003: Why thank you.

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bigdaddy753: I'm glad you liked it.

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Lord Dreadnault: Don't worry, she and Harry will have the talk soon. I dunno about getting pregnant by Harry just to compete with Carey, though. That would strike me as a bad idea.

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Starwest45: You thought the chapter was _fluffy_???

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Calen: I'll break your review down into bits for better analysis.

1) _Good series overall. One thing I don't like is the whole soul mate and that other thing you said about people being linked. What? They can't just be friends or people in love, they have to be soul mates? That's very BS in my opinion anyway. _

That other thing is the Twin Flame. Belief in Soul Mates and Twin flames is based upon belief in reincarnation. And I agree with your opinion that the characters don't all have to be Soul Mates, did I? I just mentioned examples of a few, and _you _automatically _assumed _this stretched the rule to everybody. Did I say Wolfe and Galatea are Soul Mates? Or Gavin/Mayumi, Helga/Nathan Bill/Fleur, George/Angelina, Percy/Hannah? No, I didn't!

2) _Also, this Wolfe going bad, being the dark general thing kind of like everyone thinking Harry was bad._

On the surface it may seem repetitive, but I assure you that it most definitely isn't. You should no by now that in my fics things rarely are what they appear.

3) _I'm glad you said that it might not be H/G though, cause not all relationships last forever and people do move on and fall in love with other people._

I wasn't talking about my fic. I was talking about canon. (Though I do believe Harry and Ginny would be good together)

4) _I do think that your fic is way too 'they have to be in a relationship' orientated though. But I guess that's a girl thing. Can't have a fic without people falling in love…ohh no._

For your information, I'm a MAN, HOMME, HOMBRE!!! I do get a lot of female input because both my betas are women. And you know what I've learned? Female input is GOOD. They are more in touch with the emotional side of things and greatly contribute to my writing in that respect. As for the technical side of things, the romantic interest always adds spice and drama to the overall plot.

5) _Harry should just get with a person he can relate to, not someone he just finds he loves and that love magically comes out of thin air. And okay that didn't really happen with that whore Ginny, but he could do better and it wouldn't be the end of the world. Him and Heidi could probably work, but maybe not because of why he chose her._

He can relate to Ginny better than he can relate to anyone else. But Ginny's only human too. Harry flipped (both in canon and in EaL) and used the Cruciatus Curse. This is Ginny's way of flipping. You can't expect her to be the epitome of perfection. She's insecure and jealous…only human. And as you yourself have said, their love didn't come out of thin air.

6) _But him and his daughter's mother could work. She was nice, nicer than Whorinny Weasel. *g*_

Err, there's no way around this pal…Carey _used_ Harry! True, she got some feelings for him later on but that hardly justifies it, don't you think? And what the hell do you mean Whorinny??? Are you one of those idiots who think Ginny's a slut for going out with Michael Corner and having her eye on Dean soon after? Or do you only have a problem with my version of Ginny? Either way, please refrain from using such language in your reviews.

7) _Ginny doesn't love him anymore anyway, I hope that's the reason for her ring breaking._

The shattering of the diamond represents that breaking of Ginny's heart. And peoples hearts get broken only by those they love, and always continue to love even after they're hurt.

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LadySiri: Glad you had a good trip.

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Lady Reaper of the Shadows: Matt _is_ big man, so you couldn't expect him to be small in that department, could you?

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Hawkeye: Another name I hope to be seeing more frequently. And Harry and Ginny will sort it out, one way or another. *evil cackle* 

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Lioness-07863: Nathan won't stay too long.

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Joyce: You're very perceptive. And thanks for the compliments, even though I humbly have to admit that I let the story grow out of control a little.

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Jane Grey: Blood-Chimeras are real, I didn't invent that. Someone won a Nobel Prize by researching them.

As for ghosts, I don't think they necessarily have stay behind for eternity. I think Nick was focussing about his case in particular. Myrtle came back for revenge. In my interpretation ghosts are able to move on once they get a strong enough epiphany about the meaning of life or afterlife. Nick simply didn't get it yet, and I imagine not many ghosts would, seeing as not many people do in life.

Hmm, Mayumi, I'm afraid I'm going to have to let you down there. That will happen off screen.

Mirrors for communication, lots of fantasy stories use it. And the O.W.L.s, yep, it appears I was way off. But some things have yet to be explained, like why Percy got 12 O.W.L.s when the maximum amount of subjects a student can fit into a schedule are 10. It has been suggested that with some subjects theory and practical exams both get separate credits. I guess we'll have to wait for book 6 to find out. And no, I'm not going to bother rewriting the bits in my story.

The title comes from the transformation of Mary's eyes.

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Lamina Court: Want to see Ironheart again, eh?

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Siri Kat: So chapter 10 made you laugh! ;-)

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Casual Reader: LOL, that question is so _you_!

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Foxfur: You told your _kids_ about two characters in _a fan fiction_ story? How did they react?

I'm afraid I'll have to let you down on the meeting between Mayumi and Matsu. It won't happen on screen.

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jona: I hope the next few chapter will also be up to scratch. At least they will be much longer than the early chapters of the story.

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Author's Note: I forgot to mention this in the previous posting, but it was my beta reader Christine who so brilliantly wrote from Heidi's POV in chapter 25. There's no way I could have pulled it off so convincingly. Sometimes picturing a man and taking away reason and accountability isn't enough. Only a woman can write women really well. 


	27. The Boy Genius

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The Boy Genius

Chapter 27

Ron stared at the part of the tapestry that led to him and his siblings through Violet McKinnon, his great-grandmother on his mother's side. That tiny little patch of tapestry revealed so much! It revealed that his Mum's total grandchild tally would rise to twelve soon, that Wolfe wasn't dead, and that Cho Chang, like Wolfe, was Rose McKinnon's great-grandchild. The tree showed Mei Li, Rose's daughter, marrying a Chinese wizard named Wufei Chang.

"Never thought I'd be related to _her_. Who would have thought she had a dash of British blood."

"I remember Mei telling me that all her grandchildren were grown up and had moved out," Hermione mentioned. "I just assumed all her grandchildren grew up in America."

"Some of them did," Ironheart came walking up the gloomy corridor. "Shen and Long moved to the United States after finishing Hogwarts to pursue their dream of golem manufacture and design. Their company's called Gundam Inc."

"I think I've heard of it," Ron nodded. 

"Chronos is one of theirs…the first of the Nataku series. That home under the herb shop Hermione's been to served as their initial workshop in the early years, before they moved to San Francisco. They sold it to their Uncle Long. Mei and Wufei later moved there to be halfway between their grandchildren in England and those in San Francisco."

Captain Faust and the three trainees from the Martial Division appeared in the corridor, and Ironheart turned the conversation in the direction of official matters. 

"The results are finally in. It took so long because Serafina couldn't be convinced to dig up the body…she's superstitious that way. In the end we had to drag Lilia Rosaria out of bed to do the honours."

"I bet she gave you hell, didn't she, sir?" Hermione smirked.

"She wasn't pleased with the interruption of her beauty sleep, no," Ironheart smiled. 

"She can sleep all she wants, but she isn't going to get any beauty," Ron heard Larsson half-whisper.

"Aw, c'mon, she isn't ugly!" Ramos answered.

"Oooh, are you sweet on her, George? Like your women dumpy, do you?"

"She's not dumpy, she's voluptuous!"

"And foul mouthed?"

Ramos smiled. "I like verbally abusive women."

"You're weird," Larsson shrugged.

"Birds of a feather, Rolf."

"I only hang out with you because you always buy me drinks at The Barrel."

"Only to put out the flames every time you crash and burn with Vesta."

"She'll relent one of these days."

"Unlikely."

"Will you two _shut up_?" Danielle Esklove snapped irritably. 

"Thank you, my dear…" Ironheart winked and flashed her an insolent grin, making the young witch blush furiously. "Not even bones were left. It must have turned to pulp a few days after we buried it, like clones always do when they expire."

"So it _was_ a Cauldron Clone?" Faust asked.

"What else could it have been?"

"Good point," Faust nodded. "So what else have you been up to? It's been three hours."

"Playing Divide and Conquer. I slipped our discovery to my daughter at the International Confederation of Magic. By the time the Japanese Wizarding Empire formally lodges a complaint, an inquiry into all their cloak and dagger political manoeuvring will be waiting for them." Ironheart smiled. "I'm sure everyone would like to know exactly why the Emperor Sayuki sent his one of his daughters to be raised by half-bloods after covering up her birth…both the representatives in the confederation as well as his own court. He'd be too busy explaining that, so he wouldn't bother us for a while."

Ron knew that Ironheart could be devious, but he'd never expected this level of deviousness. The commander hadn't even mentioned all the ICoW representatives who mistrusted the reclusive Japanese wizarding society because they allegedly felt that membership was beneath them. They'd probably give the Order of Illumination a pat on the back instead of a reprimand, _and_ they would make sure the inquiry dragged on even longer. On top of all that, Sayuki would possibly be constrained to reveal exactly why he'd separated Mayumi from the rest of his family, saving the Order the trouble of finding out. Ironheart had scooped away three snitches in a single swipe. But there was a downside. "What happens if the Emperor's explanation is exceptionally good?"

"It won't be. I have a theory as to why Mayumi was separated. You see, Inihara, the chief of the Thunderbird clan, has been trying to take control of the empire for decades. After that curse was cast on the imperial bloodline, Sayuki needed Inihara's support to change the succession protocols. In exchange for this, Sayuki promised to marry Matsu off to one of Inihara's grandsons, and to marry _their_ offspring off to future Thunderbirds. Basically, he wanted to take the Unicorns' place as the main source of imperial consorts, thus causing every future empress to call a Thunderbird father. I'm guessing that, upon finding out that his daughter-in-law was expecting twins…well…I'm basing an awful lot on assumptions, really."

Even if that was true, Commander Ironheart's theory made sense to Ron. Sayuki would surely have tried to worm his way out of relinquishing power to Inihara. "How exactly did Inihara secure this promise from Emperor Sayuki?" he asked. "Something like a binding magical contract?"

"You'll have to ask Miss Makioka for the exact words used in the contract, but yes, it was binding,"

"It must have contained the names of all the parties involved. Otherwise it would have been worthless." Ron's mind suddenly made the connection and he looked at Ironheart. "The throne always goes to the eldest sibling…so you're saying that Sayuki hid the existence of the eldest and put the second one's name in the magical contract?"

"Thus deflecting Inihara's power grab," Ironheart nodded. "What do you think?"

"We _are_ basing an awful lot on assumptions."

"Yet these assumptions make sense," Faust remarked.

"It still leaves a lot of questions unanswered," Ron said. "There's something that's bothering me, though. If our theory is correct, it means that Sayuki would have revealed Mayumi's existence sooner or later. Would he have got away with that? I mean, everyone would know that he deliberately hoodwinked Inihara, right?"

"He probably would have got away with it," Ironheart said casually. "The clans don't want Inihara to take control though. And without their support, there's nothing he can do, really."

"All right," Ron nodded, but he still had some doubts. "I did some background reading on the Japanese wizarding society before the mission, to help me understand how their minds work. Their concept of honour—at least, the honour that matters—is based on one's actions when witnessed by others. It's all about perceptions and façades right? Honour is an external affair."

"Partially," Ironheart nodded slowly. "Their views are different from ours. Honour is something that could be stripped from an individual as a means of social control."

"Won't Emperor Sayuki's honour as perceived by his subjects incur significant damage that way if the International Confederation of Wizards twists his arm so publicly? He'll _have_ to comply to retain diplomatic relations—"

"If things got that far…yes, he'd lose face. But I instructed my daughter to withhold the petition for the inquiry until after the Japanese representatives turn up." Ironheart smirked. "In fact, I _know_ Sayuki will reach the same conclusion you just did. That's why I also sent a messenger to Japan to offer Sayuki the possibility to avoid public embarrassment, especially in the eyes of his subjects, and discuss the matter with us privately."

"That's bloody brilliant!"

"Thank you for that assessment, Mr Weasley." Ironheart made a brief bow. "I learned this particular manoeuvre from Lei Li. He was a genius when it came to manipulation."

"You could have told me about it sooner," Faust frowned. "If I'd known you had a contingency plan, I wouldn't have worried as much."

Ironheart shrugged apologetically and looked at the three trainees curiously. "Shouldn't you be in the vault?"

"The Intel people kicked us out. They say we get in the way more than we contribute," Danielle Esklove said, though her tone and expression made it clear that she didn't agree. She glared at Ramos and Larsson. "It's _their_ fault. They keep joking around, so Captain Kovalenko doesn't take any of us seriously."

"Is that so?" Ironheart shot the two offending Rangers a stern look.

"Just trying to lighten the mood…" Ramos muttered.

"You should know by now, Mr Ramos, that Captain Kovalenko doesn't have a sense of humour. All right then…Ramos, you'll do monitoring duty on the _Typhoon_. Mr Larsson, you will be his counterpart on the _Hurricane_. And you won't use the channels for personal bantering."

Larsson and Ramos both looked very disappointed, and Ron really couldn't blame them. They'd been assigned the most boring tasks to be performed.

"I had something more suited to their training in mind," Faust said. "Perhaps sentry duty?"

"I doubt Her Imperial Highness would appreciate these two on her doorstep. Besides, if they take over monitoring duty, it will free Hwang and Olsen up to spend more time repairing the _Notus_."

"You heard the man, off you go!" Faust made a shooing gesture with his hand, and muttering a few feeble protests, Ramos and Larsson finally set off, only to be called back by Faust. "Hold it…aren't you forgetting something?"

Ramos and Larsson exchanged puzzled looks.

"I'll give you a little hint. It's proper decorum towards a superior officer…"

Chastised, the duo offered crisp salutes.

"Better," Faust nodded, returning their salute.

"What as that all about?" Ironheart asked, after Larsson and Ramon had gone. "You disregard decorum as much as I do. Have you been taking lessons from Nehanda?"

"No." Faust shook his head and grinned. "It's just that those two needed a reminder that informality is a privilege that can be squandered by substandard behaviour." He turned to Danielle Esklove. "You may rejoin the efforts in the vault."

"Thank you, sir," Danielle said gratefully before she hurried away.

Then Ironheart turned his attention to Faust. "Matthias…the reason you needed to see me?"

"Oh yes…we sorted the prisoners out. Three of them were under the Imperius. Your gift will enable you to milk them for information better than I could, so I'll leave their debriefing to you. What are we going to do about the others, though?"

"Are we positive that they're Anastasiou's truly willing servants and not people tricked or bullied into working with him?"

"They're bad people, sir. Every one of them is eligible for a Dementor's Kiss in his own country. One of them is Medea Aconit. She poisoned a French Auror in March of '94."

Hermione gasped. "Galatea's mum!"

"Yes," Faust nodded.

"I assume these wizards will be extradited to their own respective countries?" Ironheart asked.

"That's the general idea. Speaking of which, the wizards from the British Ministry will be here shortly to collect their dead. We located the bodies about an hour ago. They were transfigured into boulders to match the ones already spread over the island, but the aura of fresh transfiguration gave them away."

"At least they can be mourned properly now," Ironheart sighed. "Who can we expect from the Ministry?"

"The head of the Department of International Magical Co-operation and some of his people from the International Magical Office of Law. Given the rather exotic collection of bad guys, they've got to do the paperwork and sort through the red tape," Faust added as an explanation. "And of course, some Aurors to escort the Scottish captive."

"Where are they going to hold the rest of these people until they can be shipped off to their own countries? Azkaban?" Ironheart asked, wearing a very sceptical look indeed.

"Actually, they've asked us to hold the rest due to the Dementors' questionable reliability when it comes to people with value to powerful dark overlords."

"Nice to know the bureaucrats actually _do_ learn from their mistakes, sometimes," Ironheart said wryly. Then he pinched the collar of his shirt to activate the miniature broadcaster. "Excuse me for a moment…" He walked farther down the corridor and began talking.

"So, I hear you've been healed?" Faust asked Hermione.

Hermione beamed. "Holly's really a treasure." But her smile immediately faded somewhat. "It did seem to take a lot out of her, though. I have to ask her exactly how she did it…" She looked at the tapestry and got tears in her eyes.

Ron stepped closer and wrapped an arm around her. They had just seen her name and the dot symbolising the foetus fade away when they had all rushed over to see whether Harry hadn't been imagining things about Wolfe's name. "Shouldn't we tell Galatea that Wolfe is alive?"

Faust got an anxious look as he heard this. "I'm not sure. Nathan told me something rather disconcerting before he moved on. He said the dark general's fighting style reminded him of Wolfe's. It could be a coincedence, but if Anastasiou managed to change Wolfe like he did Quist…"

After hearing eyewitness accounts from Matt, Aberforth and Doc, they'd realised that Malfoy wasn't the dark general after all, shrouding the identity of the individual in mystery once more.

Ron groaned, remembering the prophecy. _It is the hour of twilight._ _A dark general will arise. He will supersede his handlers and grab the reins of evil himself, directing it onto the world. The scarred one, his Soul Brother, will oppose him. Only one will emerge from the fray._

__

Handlers…that's what Anastasiou and Yamato would be if they'd introduced a parasitic personality into Wolfe, for the Ranger himself would never regard them as masters. And Harry and Wolfe had a kind of connection. Wolfe had managed to gain Harry's respect, and Harry had begun look up to him much like a younger brother looked up to an older brother. "Does Harry know?"

"No, and I told Matt to keep this quiet."

"You can't keep this from Harry!" Hermione exclaimed.

Ron knew Hermione was right. They'd have to tell Harry. "We need to keep the people who know about this down to a minimum. And I think we shouldn't tell Galatea about Wolfe. I mean, what good would it do? Why tell her that Wolfe's alive but that he's been taken over by evil and that he'll have to face Harry in a fight in which only one of them will survive?"

"God, why does this always happen to Harry? How will he feel when he finds out that it's Wolfe he has to fight?" Hermione said morosely. "Oh…was Nathan _certain_? Was he absolutely sure?"

"He trained with Wolfe an awful lot. And this situation _would_ explain where Wolfe disappeared to. Anastasiou is one of very few individuals with enough influence to get Dementors to negotiate with him. He also has access to crooked potions masters who can create Cauldron Clones."

"Doc is on his way over here. I don't want the Ministry to know about this, so Doc's going to seal up this corridor again." Ironheart said, and he noticed the gloomy expressions around him. "I try my best not to read minds indiscriminately, but your minds are screaming and it's only a matter of time, so one of you will have to tell me what's wrong."

Faust sighed and told Ironheart what he'd just discussed with Ron and Hermione, and the commander's face turned ashen. "Ron is right…Galatea mustn't know about this. But Harry needs to be prepared both physically and mentally…" The commander's words got caught in his throat, and he had to stop to swallow them away. "The prophecy is very clear. Only one will emerge. As much as I love my grandson, I fear there is no way to save him. I'm sure he'll see death as salvation…a way to finally free him from the parasitic personality's influence." He rubbed his eyes, and Ron suspected he was wiping away some early tears. "Come, we have to leave the corridor. Gudrun's just returned with her mother in tow."

"Her mother?" Faust asked.

"Doc just told me Gudrun and Matt decided to perform the continuation ritual of the Consanguinity Charm today, since they found the manuscripts and necessary components. I understand that the head of the Department of International Magical Co-operation also has the capacity to marry people officially, and apparently Gudrun's decided to get married too, that is, if the wizard can be convinced. Lilia's on her way too, since she'd never forgive Gudrun for getting married without her being there. Janice is coming over with her to do the spiritual part of the ceremony."

"Blimey, isn't that a bit sudden?" Ron said dubiously, after Ironheart and Faust had put moved a bit further away.

Hermione laughed. "This is Gudrun we're talking about, Ron. She's prone to launching herself into adventures, remember? Matt isn't the most cautious of men either."

"But marriage is a big step."

"I'm not really worried. They're meant to be together. Lieutenant Cliff once told me that she made a reading with her cards to build on an interpretation from the stars. It revealed that Matt and Gudrun met had before, and they'd searched for each other ever since. It turns out to be true, doesn't it? Literally! And Matt's girlfriends all resembling Gudrun, I think that was a manifestation of his subconscious. I think Matt was trying to remember all along, and I think he actually did come close a few times. Doc told me how he got this glazed look in his eyes after hugging Gudrun really closely, and that he got a terrible headache afterwards. And Matt himself told me that thinking about Gudrun gave him a headache. I think it's because of the Memory Charm."

As Ron mulled over that information, something suddenly occurred to him as he remembered things he'd heard about Nathan's explanation. "Gudrun called herself Maria when she first met him, right? Remember what you told me, about Matt calling for Gudrun and Mary in his sleep? He didn't say Mary, did he? He called for Maria, didn't he?"

Hermione's eyes widened. "That's brilliant, Ron. I hadn't even thought of that. I just assumed that he was calling for Mary because it was her given name. But why would he have called her that in a dream if he didn't call her that when he was awake? He _definitely_ remembered Maria subconsciously, and he made the connection to Gudrun!"

"Okay, so they're meant to be. I still think it's a bit rushed," he said seriously, wondering whether Hermione would agree with his next statement. "Gudrun and Matt are like you and me, only more extreme. I'm sure they're going to disagree on how to run the household once they're living together, just like we did at first. I bet those rows are going to be explosive, and Mary will be caught in the middle. We ought to remind them that they should restrain themselves for Mary's sake when that happens. Or at least to hack it out when she's not around."

Hermione sighed. "Yes, sometimes love alone isn't enough. Look at—"

"Harry and Ginny," Ron finished. He decided he wanted to change the topic, so he voiced another concern of his. "Good thing Lieutenant Cliff will be there to lend a hand. I'm not sure if Percy's ever done a ceremony before." 

"Yes, he has! He married Parvati and Wood after everything was out in the open, remember?"

Ron smiled. He'd been in Concordia at the time, but he remembered a letter from his mum telling them all about it. "Yeah. But I completely forgot, with all the excitement that mirror demon was causing, and Ginny and Malfoy…" He trailed off as they turned to follow Commander Ironheart down to the Entrance Hall.

There they found Commander Ironheart beaming at a woman who looked very much like an older version of Gudrun. Her nose was a bit longer and her lips thinner, but she was obviously Gudrun's mum. It seemed like she already knew Commander Ironheart, because he was clasping his hands in hers.

Gudrun looked rather shocked, and Ron heard her question as he and Hermione closed in. "You two _know_ each other?"

Then, after looking into Gudrun's eyes, Ironheart began laughing really hard. "Y-you…oh, don't worry, Gudrun," he said after he'd composed himself. It's no use lying to you. Yes, I _do_ know your mother _that_ intimately, and no, I am most certainly _not_ your father. You're very much Muggle-born. If I recall correctly you were two years old at when I met your mother. It's just that I never guessed _you_ were that little girl. You did remind me an awful lot of your mother when I first saw you at the Citadel, but I never made the connection because you have a different surname. I should have remembered that surnames in Iceland are traditionally patronymic. Oh dear, it really _is_ a small world," he added with a chuckle.

"I don't believe this," Ron muttered under his breath so only Hermione could hear him. "Trelawney, McGonagall, Pomfrey, Gudrun's mum…the man is a monster. I don't think I'll ever leave Mum alone in the same room with him if they ever meet again—" he added jokingly and immediately ducked to dodge Hermione's swat intended for the back of his head.

"Oh, don't look at me like that!" Gudrun's mother scolded her daughter playfully. "Your father had been away for nearly seven months, and he—" she patted Ironheart's arm. "—was the most dashing and handsome man I had ever laid eyes on. I know you would have done the same thing in my place, my daughter!" She added something in Icelandic that made Gudrun blush furiously. "Now, where is your man?"

Despite the twinkle in her eye Ron could see that Gudrun's mum was not well. That disease that had prevented her from continuing to care for Mary had really taken its toll on her. "Gudrun told me her mum had her at the same age she had Mary. She's what…fifty-two? She looks eighty-two!"

"Remember that Muggle women age faster than witches do, Ron. And I'm sure her treatment has aged her quite a bit." Hermione said.

"Isn't treatment supposed to make her better?" Ron frowned. Why would it make her look worse?"

"Because, while the treatment Muggles use for her illness does kill the bad cells, it also harms all the other ones."

"That's insane!"

"That's life without magic," Hermione said. "And she doesn't look _eighty-two_. Eighty-two year-old Muggles look like wizards who are well in their hundreds."

"Granny!" Mary yelled as she came running down the hall wearing a tiara on her head, several pearl necklaces rattling around her neck and a few very expensive-looking rings on her fingers.

"Mary…you come back here with those jewels!" Clara da Silva yelled, chasing after her. "We still need to sort those!"

The little girl stopped briefly and stripped off the jewels quickly. She handed them to Clara and resumed her sprint towards her grandmother, nearly bowling the fragile-looking woman over when she reached her.

"Easy, sweetheart. Gran isn't as strong as she used to be," she gasped as she noticed her granddaughter's recent transformation. "Oh, look at your eyes…"

They're from Dad. He's got a great-great-great-great-grandmother who was an aboriginal witch from Australia had some cat-people blood. That's where we get the eyes."

"Cat-people?" Gudrun's mother looked puzzled.

"Magic beings," Ironheart clarified.

"Like goblins? I've seen some of those at the wizarding bank."

"Hardly," Ironheart smiled. "I understand they looked like humanoids with some feline traits and had an exotic beauty about them. There aren't any left, though," the commander added wistfully, giving Ron the feeling that the randy old goat would have made a pass at one of their females if there _had_ been any left… Ron quickly shut down those thoughts, since the commander might read his mind. 

"Oh my, I need to sit down. This is overwhelming. I feel like I'm in a fairytale. This castle certainly looks like one from a fairytale."

"It's beautiful isn't it?" Mary said as she grabbed her grandmother's hands and began pulling her in the direction from which she had come. "Gran, you haven't met my dad yet, have you? This castle belongs to him, you know! He's a gazillionare and he's very handsome too!"

Gudrun's mum resisted Mary's tugging and shot her daughter an inquisitive look, asking her something in Icelandic.

Gudrun blushed, and she and her mother exchanged a few quick sentences in Icelandic before Gudrun switched back to English. "_That's_ what I love most about him. He didn't let his gold go to his head…too much. Wait here, I'll go find him!" she said, and walked off in search of Matt, who had to be somewhere inside the vault, helping with the sorting of the treasure.

Hermione then started towards Gudrun's mother. Ron saw she wanted to introduce herself, and he followed her.

"Mary, aren't you going to introduce us to your grandmother?"

The woman took the cue and extended her hand. "Hello, Verna Bjornsdottir."

"I'm Hermione Granger, and this is Ron Weasley," she added as Ron moved within her peripheral vision.

"How do you do," Ron shook her hand, not daring to grip her very hard because of her apparent fragility. But he got a surprisingly strong grip in return.

"Don't worry, Mr Weasley, I won't break!" she said, giving his hand an extra squeeze for emphasis before she released him. "I assume my daughter told you about my illness."

"I wondered if you'd like to rest," Hermione began.

"Nonsense. My affliction seems to be in remission, and no amount of rest will delay its return. I decided to enjoy my remaining time as much as possible, and sitting still isn't a very good way to do that, is it? I'm just glad my daughter found a man who is right for her. I'm still not completely sure how she found him. She just appeared on my doorstep and told me to pack a suitcase to come to her wedding. She said she fell in love with a wizard who turns out to be Mary's father? She wasn't very coherent…"

Hermione smiled. "It'll sound like something out of a sappy soap opera, really. I'll give you the very short version. Mary's father has been under our noses all along. Gudrun didn't recognise him because when she met him, he'd had a false name and different hair and eye-colours. Matt didn't recognise Gudrun because his memories of her had been removed by his father's orders."

"Why would he have a false name, and why did they take away _his_ memories? I know wizards do it to Muggles all the time, but he's a wizard himself, right?"

"I see there's no way to explain this briefly," Hermione sighed, and then she explained about the attempted kidnapping early in Matt's life due to his parent's exceptional wealth and their status in the wizarding world. She continued with describing the measures that were subsequently taken to ensure his safety, namely changing his appearance and behaviour whenever he was away from home and without protection.

Then she touched on the subject of the point of view some pure-bloods in the wizarding world held, and while Mr Kelly hadn't been as bad as some others she'd met, it _had_ been among the reasons why Matt's father opposed his son's relationship with, supposedly, a Muggle woman. But she quickly added that the age difference had also been an issue, and that Byron Kelly, for all his faults, had also been a concerned parent who probably though he was saving his son from making a mistake. And since Matt had been so determined in finding Gudrun, even resorting to illegal means to do it, Obliviation had seemed like a viable course of action.

"I did _suspect_ that Matt and John Smith were the same person due to their similarity, and Mary's similarity to Matt," Hermione said. "I asked for someone to do a blood test and I was rather surprised when I was told that he couldn't be Mary's father because of an incompatible blood type. It turns out he has some of his brother's blood in his veins. That's a rare but natural phenomenon, nothing magical about it. So it was concluded that the information on his blood was thus inaccurate because the particular spell they'd used to take blood only takes a single cell. It obviously took one of Nathan's."

"They figured it out after my eyes changed," Mary piped up.

"But none of us knew exactly what had happened until the ghost of Matt's brother turned up and confessed what their father did. I think this covers it. I wasn't there when Mary's eyes changed or when Nathan Kelly's ghost explained Matt's memory loss, but I think I have the facts straight," Hermione said, concluding the story.

Verna smiled. "It sounds like a story written by a twisted writer who borrowed the plot and central characters from a talented and successful one and embellished it beyond recognition."

"I hope I'm one of the central characters…" Ron muttered.

*

Even though the circumstances of their reunion could have been better, Harry had been glad to see Percy and Seamus again, and had used the opportunity to catch up on news from the home front. The reunion hadn't lasted as long as Harry would have liked due to Percy's busy schedule. He'd returned to the mainland as soon after making things official between Matt and Gudrun in an outdoor ceremony in a consecrated circle.

With the remaining criminals having been transfigured into toads and locked in small cages, Harry had found himself with more free time on his hands, since fewer people were needed to guard them. He still had to be ready to fulfil any miscellaneous tasks that might come up unexpectedly, but he had been given no such task for the moment. And with Ginny spending more time working on the Cruiser due to Gudrun's sudden decision to tie the knot, he couldn't talk to her. So he, Ron and Hermione had chosen the Caer Sidi private library to spend their free hours. 

"Bit of a shock that Seamus and Lavender broke up, though," Ron said, wiggling back into a luxurious leather in sofa while he readjusted his arms around Hermione's middle, who was leafing through a book about gem-cutting and alchemical treatment of precious stones.

Harry nodded. He'd always thought that Lavender and Seamus would end up getting married.

"You heard Seamus," Hermione said absently. "She was driving him nuts. He gave her plenty of room for her to do her thing. She shouldn't have vented her frustrations on him like that. She shouldn't have gone professional. It's as simple as that. It's a waste of time for someone with such limited ability to try and make a living with divination. She could have kept doing it as a hobby, of course. Ugh, I _told_ her to invest more time in other subjects."

And Harry knew Lavender had never quite forgiven Hermione for downplaying her first real prophecy. It _had _been an impressive bit of clairvoyance. Lavender had prophesised the highly unexpected victory of the Chudley Cannons over the then seemingly invincible Tutshill Tornados early in their sixth year. Granted that, like Hermione had said, it hadn't been a world shattering prophecy. But several Gryffindors bet on the game and ended up making a killing due to the ninety-to-one odds against the Cannons.

While they had broken up, Seamus had confessed that he still cared about her a great deal, and that he'd probably take her back if she stopped being egocentric, provided that he'd still be unattached, of course.

"I wonder how they're going to compensate from the loss of these wizards at the Ministry," Harry frowned. As far as he knew the Ministry of Magic still had a long way to go before recovering from the loss of life in the war.

"Postponing retirements, or asking some people to come out of it," Ron suggested. "That's how the Order's coping." 

"And Seamus _did_ say that he had much more responsibility than someone of his level of experience used to have in the old days," Hermione pointed out, looking up from her book. "I know this sounds rather morbid, but in a way, the war had some favourable consequences. I heard that promotions in the Ministry these days are based on merit more than they used to be. In the old days it largely came down to who you were related to and who you knew. Now, two department heads are Muggle-born and three are half-bloods. Percy's the only pureblood."

Ron nodded. "Before the war it was all pureblood with only one half-blood. There aren't that many purebloods left, though, and I suspect there won't be any in a generation or two, unless they broaden the definition of pureblood. Of Mum's grandchildren only four are pureblood, and that's because I'm not counting Fleur's grandmother as a non-witch. If I do that, only Arthur and Charlie are pureblood."

"The Bells were pureblood?" Harry frowned. "I didn't think Katie had wizard ancestors for nine generations on either side of the family in every direction."

Ron chuckled. "Only elitist gits like the Malfoys had such strict guidelines. Nine generations indeed! That would mean you'd have to have _five hundred and twelve_ wizard ancestors. Think about it…in a community as small as ours it would be impossible for them to all be different people. Enter inbreeding, I suppose. Nah, the unofficial standard is at least four generations in either direction. You're a pureblood if all eight of your great-grandparents were wizards, and at least two of them had to be pureblood themselves. So only Charlie and Arthur are pureblood, strictly speaking. Angelina's dad is Muggle-born, so _her_ children aren't. Same goes for Hannah's children, because of her mum. Amelie and Alroy are in a bit of a grey area since one of their great-grandparents is a magical being."

"I don't think that would be a problem," a child's disembodied voice said. "I think that being descendants from magical creatures is the real reason why purebloods think they're better then Muggle-borns or half-bloods." A high-backed easy chair that had been facing a bookshelf swung around, revealing Nicolai with a book on his lap. He looked like a toddler, because with regards to size, the chair reminded Harry of the four-poster in the guestroom Princess Matsu was occupying. It could have held Hagrid easily.

"Nicolai! What are you doing here?" Hermione asked.

"Reading."

"You ought to know that, Hermione," Ron teased. "We _are_ in a library."

"I seem to remember you two doing things other than reading in the library back at Hogwarts!" Harry said, taking delight in the opportunity to remind them of their unorthodox snogging spots. Hermione and Ron both blushed.

"Well, of course. The library is a good place to do your homework, right?" Nicolai said.

"That's right!" Hermione said quickly. "I actually meant to ask you where Mary is. You two are always together, but now you're suddenly by yourself in here."

The boy shrugged. "She wants to play with the jewellery. I think the library is much more interesting. There are lots of great books in here. Too bad I have to leave soon," he added with an air of great disappointment.

"What are you reading?"

"Beowulf. Our version, not the Muggle one."

"That book looks very old. It isn't in English, is it?"

"Yes it is…well…Old English!"

Harry certainly hadn't expected that. His own knowledge of Old English extended to knowing that it didn't sound anything like Modern English. Hermione could decipher a page or two given enough time, but he knew she'd never learned it either.

"And you actually understand it?" Hermione asked, looking every bit as surprised as Harry felt.

Nicolai nodded enthusiastically.

"How did you learn?" Ron frowned. "Who taught you?"

"I taught myself. I saw a bit of the poem once, and I wanted to know what it said. I asked the librarian what language it was and where I could find a dictionary."

"And you taught yourself?" Ron asked incredulously.

Again, Nicolai nodded vigorously, and Harry saw a shrewd look appear on Hermione's face.

"Nicolai, how many languages do you speak?" she asked.

"I can speak Gobbledegook, Concordian-Dwarven, English, Russian, Italian and Latin really well. Mary taught me French and Icelandic, but I'm not fluent yet."

"That's impossible," Ron said. "You've known Mary for what…five weeks? How could you have…wait…" A glint of comprehension dawned in Ron's eyes too, and Harry felt stupid not knowing what Ron and Hermione had obviously realised. "You're a Lingomagus, aren't you?"

Nicolai nodded shyly.

So _that_ had been Nicolai's secret! Lingomagi were as rare as Parselmouths, Metamorphmagi and Mind Readers. Just like the powers of Metamorphmagi could be mimicked with to a certain extent with charms and potions, and Mind Reading could be accomplished with Legilimency, which required a wand by all but the most powerful and practised wizards, those substitutes still fell short of the innate abilities. 

Wizards _could _enhance their linguistic abilities with spells and potions as well and thus learn over a hundred languages. But to Lingomagi it came naturally. They could learn languages by being exposed to them for a few days. The reason Nicolai didn't know more languages was because he'd simply not been exposed to them.

"Well congratulations!" Hermione beamed at the little boy. "If I could have chosen a unique magic ability, I'd want to be a Lingomagus. It would make it so much easier to get information. I could just open up a book and read it. No need to bother looking for a translated copy, or have too much difficulty translating it myself. I envy you!"

Nicolai's face fell. "Well, it would just be you. The other children who know tease me. They call me a freak," he added quietly, causing a sharp twinge of sympathy to shoot through Harry's heart as he remembered his second year at Hogwarts. But he didn't understand why the kids would be so mean to Nicolai. His own situation hadn't been fun, but at least it had been marginally understandable. After all, being a Parselmouth was regarded as the mark of a dark wizard. He couldn't see anything wrong with being a Lingomagus.

He shifted his gaze from Nicolai to Hermione and found her staring at him with a knowing look. Instantly he knew his facial expression must have mirrored his thoughts.

"They're just jealous because you're special," she told Nicolai.

"Mum always says that, and I know she's right. But that didn't stop them from picking on me, did it? Not until Mary came…" A mystified sort of smile appeared on the boy's face, as if he wasn't sure if her arrival had been a good thing or bad thing. The smile brightened a bit as Nicolai decided the change was positive.

"Must be nice with her around, eh?" Ron teased. "If someone picks on you, they'll taste her knuckles!"

Nicolai looked remarkably impartial to Ron's words. "I never really minded being picked on. It's just that I didn't have any friends before she came along. I hated school because I was always lonely. Everybody was afraid to be my friend because they knew they'd get beaten up too. But she wasn't afraid." 

Harry felt like something began squeezing his heart inside his chest as he heard that. Nicolai's experiences hit too close to home.

"I'm glad I have a friend now. I'd do anything for her," Nicolai said solemnly, with so much conviction that it sent chills up Harry's spine. Not many nine-year-olds anywhere would talk like that. The way he was talking to them, Harry guessed that he was gifted in more than just languages. He had to be few years ahead of his age emotionally as well.

A moment's silence followed before Hermione spoke. "But what did you mean earlier, when you said that being descended from magical beings was the real reason why purebloods think they're better than Muggle-borns or half-bloods? I don't understand. Doesn't the non-wizard blood taint the family tree in their opinion?"

"No, I think that's what defines it! _That's_ where they're bigotry comes from, don't you see?" Nicolai hopped off the chair and began pacing around. "I've often asked myself where the bigotry comes from, and what pure blood is. Aren't Muggle-borns the pure ones, because they get it straight from the source? Aren't the so-called purebloods the weaker ones, because they produce more squibs the longer they go without importing fresh blood into their families?

"I know this must have crossed the mind of many purebloods who sought ways to rationalise and defend their views," Nicolai continued, pacing like a professor giving a lecture. "The way I see it, the one thing that sets a so-called pureblood apart from a Muggle-born wizard, is _impurity_. Traces of non-human blood. What sets me apart from you, Miss Granger, is my Incubus blood, and according to the tapestry, Draconian blood. Mr Potter and Mr Weasley were on the tapestry too. They too share at least one ancestor with me, and they too have Draconian blood.

"You've experienced the power of Draconian magic firsthand today. It was awesome, wasn't it? Holly did what our magic couldn't do. And _that_ is why the old wizarding families look down on newer ones. They reckon that they're somehow better because of their ancestors, even though there isn't a trace of that powerful magic left in their bodies." Nicolai stopped pacing and climbed back into the chair he'd been occupying.

Harry found it increasingly harder to believe that the boy was just nine years old. The way Nicolai had delivered his explanation was simply amazing. Clearly the boy was a genius, and Harry wondered why he hadn't started his magical education yet, like gifted Muggle children sometimes followed education on a higher level earlier.

"Nicolai!" Mary had appeared in the doorway and darted over to Nicolai's chair, plopping down beside him. She reached over and took his hand, interlacing her fingers with his and sliding as close to him as possible. "Where have you been?"

The boy shifted in the chair awkwardly, since Mary would have been sitting in his lap if she'd been any closer. "Uh, reading here—"

"Well, you missed something great. There was this sceptre in a hidden compartment. It was gold and covered with emeralds and sapphires. And on top it had a diamond as big as my fist…bigger even! It was a _red_ diamond! Doc told me it could be the most expensive diamond in the world because it was flawless despite being so big. It was the biggest he's ever seen. He said it was about seven hundred and ninety carats, almost half again as big as the Cullinan One is. That's largest diamond in the British crown jewels."

"Was the diamond already cut or was it a rough one?" Hermione asked.

"It was cut…" Mary frowned as she recalled her memories. "Doc said it was an oval with one hundred and eleven facets...yeah, one, one, one, easy to remember." 

"That diamond has to be worth millions upon millions!" Hermione exclaimed.

"What exactly determines how valuable a diamond is?" Harry asked.

"That depends," Nicolai said, beating Hermione to the punch. "The history and lineage of the stone is the most important factor. But if the stone were new, I'd have to say the brilliancy of the cut would be important. And the diamond has to have as few inclusions as possible. Normally a diamond is more valuable the more colourless and translucent it is."

"And I suppose rarer gemstones are more valuable too," Harry ventured.

"That's variable. Extreme rarity and erratic supply reduces the marketability of a gemstone and the prices are lower than one would expect. Fancy diamonds have this problem. Blue and green diamonds are rare, but there isn't a real demand for them, so they're less expensive than colourless diamonds. But red diamonds are an exception, even though they're fancy. I think Argyle pinks fetch a higher price than colourless diamonds too."

"So how much would you think this red diamond would fetch?" Hermione asked.

"Well, a single flawless carat of red diamond has been known to fetch as much as one hundred and eighty-five thousand Galleons."

"How d'you know all that?" Ron frowned.

"I read goblin financial newsletters to practice my Gobbledegook," Nicolai explained. "They're always talking about precious metals and gemstones." 

"So one hundred and eighty-five thousand multiplied by seven hundred and ninety makes…"

"One hundred and forty-six million one hundred and fifty thousand galleons," Nicolai said after only half a second, impressing Harry ever further. "But this figure isn't accurate. The value of the gem increases more than the mere multiplication of the carat value the bigger the gem gets, as long as it remains flawless. I suppose it's as good a figure as any to work with, though."

"He's smart, isn't he?" Mary beamed, snuggling even closer to Nicolai. His awkwardness, which had temporarily been forgotten during his display of knowledge and number crunching, returned in full force. Seemingly oblivious, Mary continued. "I wonder how much Canadian dollars that would have been?"

"I'm not sure about Canadian dollars, Mary," Harry said. "The British pound to the Galleon is about three to one, so that would be…"

"F-four hundred a-and thirty-eight m-million…Mary, what is wrong with you!" Nicolai burst out, having lost his composure. You've been draping yourself over me all day. It's embarrassing!"

Mary shot off the chair as if she'd been electrocuted. "Fine, forget it. _Excuse me_ for wanting to keep you company!" she screamed, and paced over to the bookshelves, pulling a thick book out. "Here, have another book!" she shrieked with a cracking voice and hurled the heavy book right into his face before storming out of the library.

Hermione slid off the sofa and rushed over to Nicolai, who was whimpering and clutching his nose with tearful eyes. Some blood was seeping through his fingers.

She conjured a towel with a flick of the wand. "Nicolai, I have a towel. Take away your hands…that's good!" When Nicolai removed his hands Harry saw that Mary had got him good. Hermione pressed the towel against the bottom of his nose. Then, with the towel stemming the blood flow Hermione's quick wand work fixed Nicolai's nose. "There, all better." A stream of water from her wand wet the clean end of the towel. "Wipe the blood off your face and hands…"

"I don't know what's wrong with her!" Nicolai huffed as he cleaned himself up.

"You're a very smart boy. I think you _do_!" Hermione smirked.

Nicolai's cheeks turned pink. "But I didn't ask her to start crushing on me just because I pulled her out of the lake. I like Mary very much, but I don't feel the same way. It's not right! This shouldn't happen until puberty, right? She's only eight and I'm nine."

"He's right!" Harry grinned. "What _is _it with girls anyway? I remember this girl crushing on Dudley in third grade. Scrawny little thing, even smaller than I was. Embarrassed the daylights out of him…"

"Girls can get attached to people without _hormones_ being involved!" Hermione said icily. "I seriously doubt Mary is having impure thoughts about Nicolai." She turned back to the confused boy. "You've been her only friend since she arrived in Concordia, and you _saved her life_ today! Don't worry, I'm sure her crush will pass. But you _could_ have been a bit more tactful just now."

"I…yeah, you're right. I'd better go find her and apologise." Nicolai sighed.

"Clearly, we have a genius in our midst. The two of you would never have realised that so quickly!" Hermione jibed.

"Really?" Ron asked with a devilish grin. "Well if that's how you feel about things, he'll be of age in eight years!"

Harry burst out laughing at Nicolai's shocked expression.

"So what d'you reckon?" Ron asked after Nicolai had left the library and Hermione had settled back into his arms. "D'you think Ironheart was right about Mary being his future granddaughter-in-law? I think it's a bit early to tell. Both of them are still so young."

"I think the commander might be right, if she doesn't beat him to death in a temper tantrum first!" Hermione giggled. "But seriously, it depends on how often they see each other. For now, Nicolai is the boy next door, but they might grow apart again if they go to different schools. Most of us tend to pair up when we're at school."

Harry struggled to keep his face impassive. Another thing he'd never had the chance to do, though it was something that others simply took for granted. And now it was too late.

"But not all of us," Ron countered. Thankfully neither he nor Hermione had been paying any attention to Harry. "Look at Percy and Hannah, and Wood and Parvati. Bill and Fleur didn't even go to the same school. And about Wood and Parvati, did you hear?"

Harry recalled his conversation with Seamus. "_And Parvati's pregnant again too. Wood certainly didn't waste any time, because they're due in early April. That'll be less than a year after Oliver Jr_."

"_They_?"

"_Parvati's expecting twins. You know, back at Hogwarts I overheard Wood talking about starting his own Quidditch team just like the Parkins family of the Wigtown Wanderers. I thought he was joking, but now I reckon he could've been serious. D'you think Parvati knows what he's up to? That'll be seven kids, and knowing Wood he'll probably want some reserves too._"

The mental image of Parvati wading through eleven little Woods inevitably brought a smile to Harry's face. "Oh yes, Seamus told me. Hey, remember how Lavender predicted that Parvati would have eleven children?"

"Do I ever!" Ron laughed. "That's the day Professor Trelawney inhaled the wrong fumes and jumped out of the window."

"Oh, there you are," Gavin Carey strolled into the library. He looked extremely tired.

"You okay?" Harry asked.

"Matsu won't believe Mayumi's her twin. She thinks Mayumi's a clone or something."

"I guess that answers the question on whether or not she knew about Mayumi," Ron said. "Who broke the news to her, anyway?"

"That's the problem…Mayumi. She visited Matsu without telling Commander Ironheart first. Needless to say she was hurt when her sister didn't believe her. I don't know what she expected. Bugger, I'm sure the commander would have convinced Matsu easily. Mayumi made things unnecessarily difficult."

"Yes she did, but I think I can understand why she did it," Hermione said. "She grew up as an only child and she told us she'd always wanted a sister. She never considered that things could go badly. And I'm sure Matsu's rearing didn't help matters either. With all the back-stabbing, both in the political and literal sense, they must have taught her to be suspicious of almost anything. A mirror image of yourself suddenly claiming to be your long lost twin certainly qualifies."

Gavin nodded. "I reckon you're right. Anyway, that's not what I'm here for. Gudrun and Matt are about to undergo the continuation ritual of the Consanguinity Charm. Nearly everyone is going to be there. The repairs to the _Notus_ will be put on hold for about an hour. That's how long Aberforth reckons it will take. He'll be performing the ritual because he's the only one who can read the appropriate scrolls."

Hermione bolted up from the sofa. "We don't want to miss this, do we?" she reached down and pulled Ron to his feet, and they left the library together.

Harry started to leave, but stopped as he saw the small Ranger's troubled expression. "Are you sure you're okay?"

Gavin shook his head. "I'm going to lose her, Harry. Commander Ironheart says it's only a matter of time before her family will come to collect her. Marrying me would have been difficult enough if she hadn't been a princess. Now it's downright impossible. They would never accept it."

"She could always abdicate." Harry tried not to sound as uncertain as he felt while he said that.

"We both know she won't. Too many things are at stake. She won't abandon her own people if they need her. That's not like her."

Harry knew all about Mayumi's sense of duty, but he thought that wasn't any reason to give up hope. "What makes the desert beautiful is that somewhere it hides a well. Don't give up yet, mate."

"You sound just like Aberforth," Gavin said ruefully. "I know I don't have a snowball's chance in hell, but thanks for the moral support. You, on the other hand, still have a chance to save your relationship. You still haven't talked to Ginny yet, have you? Come on, maybe you can talk to Ginny before the ritual starts."

Harry followed silently, not feeling quite as confident.

***

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Author's note: Catch any new references, anyone? :-) Thanks for the reviews. I even got a critical one this time! I've always dreamt of reaching the 600 mark. Looks like I'm getting there. All right, people, normally the updates take 10 to 12 days. But if you guys take me to 605 _before_ that, I'll update sooner. That's right, for the next chapter, _you get to decide how quickly you read it. _Now if you try to be clever and post several reviews under different names, I won't count them. If you have an account here and ff.net, log in and leave a signed review…those will count for sure. I also have a good idea which of my regulars don't have an account. (So of course I'll count your names even if they're not signed reviews.) Of course, If their name turns up several times I'll know there has been foul play and I won't update. 

(With this I'm aiming at the sixty odd people who have me on their favourites list but never reviewed. Sure, I'm flattered that you think my story is good enough to be added to your favourites, but I'd also like to know what you think. Critique is welcome, as long as constructive. Never mind that others may have said it before. If you share their opinion, I want to know.)

Okay, enough talk about of that shameless quest for more reviews. Ii really isn't only about getting more reviews, though. It's also about getting feedback. You'll see what I mean when I answer one of the last reviewers for chapter 26.

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BidDaddy753: I was only a matter of time before Harry would find out about Wolfe. Believe me, their encounter will be spectacular.

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StarWest45: Okay, so there's a slightly lighter tone to the story right now. It won't last.

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CTR: Chalk up Harry's perceptiveness to his training. He's changed and grown. If he hadn't, he wouldn't have survived the trials of his life as a Ranger. I'm just being realistic.

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nycgal: Uh, I think Mary to Gudrun.

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Gogirl: Oh they'll talk, don't worry. *evil cackle*

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Lioness-07863: You said you understand why Ginny is jealous, but the question you asked immediately after that proves that you don't. As for why it took Harry so long to figure out about Wolfe, I'll tell you a story.

A professor asked his students to count all the passes made during a basketball game. During the game, a guy wearing a gorilla costume interrupted play by running across the court. When he asked them if they'd seen that guy, ninety percent of the student said, 'What guy?'

The moral of the story: If you're concentrating so hard on certain things, odds are you'll miss other nuances.

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Siri Kat: Don't worry, I won't abandon this story.

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Lamina Court: Actually, If you read my answer to Lioness-07863's review, you'll see that I _could_ have gotten away with it. As for Ginny's behaviour; even though I understand your frustration (and revel in it), I think I'm being realistic. Shortly after night of perfection with Harry, BOOM, Holly shows up and Ginny's dreams come crashing down. 

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This goes for all of you who complained about Ginny's behaviour: See what I wrote above? I understand why you guys are frustrated with Ginny. But you honestly can't expect her to shrug it off and go on, as if nothing had happened, can you? She's only human. You can't expect her to be the paragon of perfection Heck, it could have been much worse! I know I'm asking for critique, you guys aren't seeing the bigger picture. Foxfur did, though. :-)

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LadySiri: Hey, not a bad word about men! I happen to be one, remember?

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Stefanie: I'll do my best, but I don't think I'll have it finished this summer. Early autumn probably.

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bane: Ah, don't worry about it. All is forgiven. And I'm somewhat of a philosophical hobbyist. Most quotes come from other sources. I can't really attribute it to one source because that's the essence of philosophy. The same things repeated over the centuries by different people using different words.

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Philip: Not really. My Galatea is names after the nymph. (Notice her sister's names: Perse, Thetis, Calypso…all sea nymphs.) I wasn't consciously likening Max and Galatea's relationship the Pygmalion and Galatea (the statue), but now that you mention it I see the resemblance. ;-)

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Lord Dreadnault: Ah, but is he perfectly willing to love her? Would he do anything to get her back? _Anything_?

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Jayen: Mel? What's the pen name? I think I know who you're talking about, but I can't be completely sure.

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stupidx: Do you know what you're saying? _No one_ deserves what Heidi did to Ginny. And no, there can't be a Harry Potter fic without Harry. Sure, you could write it, but it wouldn't be half as good. As for characters being brought back: Nathan stayed dead, didn't he?"

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Foxfur: Yeah, of course you were right about Hermione. But I couldn't tell you beforehand. And hallelujah for your assessment on Ginny (and Harry). I wish the others were so enlightened.

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Petals: Welcome back. I missed you.

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Casual Reader: I just used Hermione's injury as a short-term dramatic twist. It was never meant to become a sub plot.

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Lady Reaper of the Shadows: Yeah. ;-)

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Jane Grey: Ah, your critique is a breath of fresh air. I wish I got more of these. Allow me to address your points.

1) Harry's dream was a joke. :-) And yes, in retrospect I can see how it disrupted the flow of the story. 2) Harry's jealously wasn't what I intended to highlight. I wanted to bring out the difference between Matt and Malfoy. I suppose I could have phrased it differently to get a better result. I'll pay closer attention in the future. 3) Glad you like the way I brought the knowledge of Wolfe's survival.


	28. For Better or Worse

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For Better or Worse 

Chapter 28

"Now stir it clockwise three times with the oak ladle," Aberforth instructed Captain Sharif. "Let the potion come to rest before removing the ladle."

They were in what would ordinarily have been a large dining room. It had been cleared of its usual furniture for the ritual. The small solid gold cauldron in which Sharif and Aberforth were brewing the potion was a work of art, like most other things in the castle. It hung over a low burning fire in the equally ornate fireplace that bore the Archidiaconus crest on its mantlepiece.

Two rows of benches had been conjured for the witnesses and guests to sit on, and Ginny, Lilia and the Esklove triplets had lined up on the front left row, leaving one open spot next to Ginny at the end. The Artificers, Helga, Hwang and Roverano occupied the row on the right. Hermione, Ron and Heidi, who had just come in, sat down next to them, leaving it completely occupied. Commander Ironheart, Captain Kovalenko, and Lieutenant Faust-Cliff then arrived and settled on the bench directly behind Ron and Hermione's, in front of the already present Intel Field Ops. Curse Breaking specialists Doc, Bert Wortelgraaf and Sam Wilson. Animated chatter announced the entry of the all Intel Analysis crew consisting of five women and one man, Ranger Viera. He peeled away from the women and sat with the Curse Breakers. Ginny understood his sentiments. She liked a good conversation, but those women took chattering to a whole new level.

She'd heard that most of the men from the Martial Division wouldn't be coming. Ramos and Larsson were still confined to the Cruisers, pulling monitoring duty, and she'd heard that the others would keep guarding the castle and Princess Matsu. Since Harry was one of them, there was a chance that he wouldn't be there.

Her hope flared when she saw movement in the doorway, but it wasn't Harry. Captain Faust had escorted the two Japanese wizards that had helped with the retrieval of Princess Matsu. They looked highly intrigued by the whole scene, and chose the bench behind the Curse Breakers, and Captain Faust retreated from the room again only to return moment later with a large and heavy table hovering behind him. Like lots of other pieces of furniture in the castle, it seemed to be made of gold too, and a myriad of gemstones traced along the edge of the tabletop and down the legs. Captain Sharif transferred some ingredient bowls, various ladles, and the dipper from a smaller wooden table to the larger one before vanishing the smaller table.

While Ginny kept an eye out for any new arrivals, she also noticed that the portraits in the room were getting rather crowded with many of the Archidiaconus ancestors who had flocked from all over the castle, all eager to see the continuation ritual.

Her heart began beating faster as Harry appeared in the doorway, along with Gudrun's mum, Mary and Nicolai. Gudrun's mum went over to sit next to Commander Ironheart. Harry's eyes rested on the spot next to her, but he hesitated when he raised his eyes, meeting hers. Before she could give him any sign to approach, Mary had already darted over to her bench, dragging Nicolai behind her. The two children squeezed onto the spot before she could say anything about it. But she had no right to say anything about it anyway. This was about Mary's parents, and she deserved to be in the front row.

She turned to dejectedly stare at the flames licking the bottom of the cauldron when a thought finally chose to cross her mind. She kicked herself for not thinking it sooner. If the prophet wouldn't come to the mountain, the mountain would have to go to the prophet.

Ginny smoothed her clothes and prepared to get up, but stopped when she noticed Harry in her peripheral vision. He had settled in next to the Japanese wizards at the back, and he was no longer alone. Holly was with him, and he was chatting to her like he didn't have a care in the world. The delighted expression on his face said it all, an expression that only Holly had managed to invoke recently. She sighed and resumed staring at the fire, a gritty determination rising inside of her. Her goal was clear now. All she had to do was go through with it…not chicken out. It had to be settled for everybody's sake.

*

The sudden stop of the annoyingly incessant chattering of the witches from Intel Analysis told Hermione something was up. She turned away from her conversation with Heidi to see what was going on.

Logos, no longer creaky, strode in bearing a pillow with a large sceptre lying atop it. Hermione immediately saw it was the one Mary had been talking about. The red diamond was indeed enormous, shining with its own inner light and nearly robbing all attention away from the rest of the gold sceptre, which was quite impressive in itself, covered in runes and studded with small gemstones at regular intervals.

The golem was followed by two house-elves carrying a tray between them. Upon the tray sat a jewel-encrusted chalice that was made of what seemed to be silver and gold. But as they drew closer, Hermione noticed that the silver parts weren't quite as reflective as they could be. Surely it would have rinsed and polished prior to the ritual, so the lack of reflection made her suspect it was platinum she was looking at. The sceptre and chalice were both placed on the table next to the ingredients. 

Finally Matt and Gudrun arrived. Matt had changed back into the silver-trimmed, midnight-blue robes he'd worn earlier. For the wedding ceremony, he and Gudrun had both worn their dress uniforms from the Order of Illumination, which Lilia had had the presence of mind to bring along. Gudrun had deemed it appropriate since it would be a symbol for equality, so they had also removed the rank insignias for the ceremony.

Since this room was much warmer than the corridors, Matt removed the Re'em fur cloak he'd draped over Gudrun to keep her warm and handed it to the remaining two house-elves, whom had followed them in. Sharp intakes of breath could be heard as everyone beheld Gudrun in her attire. Even though Heidi tended to get carried away when playing dress-up, Hermione had to admit the end result was impressive. She had never seen Gudrun look so beautiful.

Heidi and Helga had lengthened her dark-blonde hair and elegantly gathered it on top, holding it in place with an ornamental comb completely covered in tiny white diamonds, making it look as if Gudrun were wearing a tiara. A few tendrils of hair fell from the arrangement in a vaguely deliberate manner, giving her an air of regal nonchalance.

Gudrun's wardrobe had been chosen in good taste as well. The outer robe was midnight-blue velvet, trimmed in silver braid at the neckline, sleeves and hems. Flared butterfly sleeves drifted from a square-necked bodice that closed in front with a row of tiny hooks, and billowing out from the bodice and a belt of intricate silver mesh was a bell-shaped skirt that was left open in front to show the chemise. The chemise was silk, in a delicate light cyan that matched and enhanced Gudrun's large and expressive eyes remarkably well. The top of the chemise's generously scooped neckline peeked out from above the neck of the outer robe, drawing attention to the beautiful pendant she wore on a thin chain. It was shaped like two long, slender leaves connected at the bottom by their thin stalks and broadening as they spiralled around each other twice. A tiny flower with four petals sat between the leaves at top, and the heart of the flower was a sparkling white diamond. The intensity with which the diamond sparkled no doubt had much to do with the fact that the pendant was platinum. A good choice, since it went well with the light colour of the inner dress and sliver trimmings of the outer dress. And the metal's neutral colour enhanced the brilliance and depth of gemstones. But Hermione was sure the diamond also had an enchantment on it, making it sparkle even brighter.

"Heidi, you're a genius!" Hermione heard Ron mutter beside her, and Heidi looked rather pleased with herself.

The wild look Gudrun had had when they'd first met had obscured a great deal of her beauty, and while she wasn't as pretty as Galatea, she was one of the more attractive female Rangers. Heidi had decided to go sparingly with the make-up, applying just enough to accentuate Gudrun's natural beauty.

"She's glowing," Helga said quietly.

Hermione saw that the part-giantess had conflicting emotions about it all. Happiness for her friend but sad about the fact that she had lost her opportunity. No…not lost, merely missed, Hermione reminded herself. It might take a while, but she knew Helga would recover. Maybe she would even find someone new.

Matt took Gudrun's hand, kissed it and led her into the room towards the table. Gudrun's gait revealed her nervousness, betraying the rather spur of the moment timing of both the wedding and the ritual. There hadn't been a rehearsal and no time for any real decoration. With the exception of Lilia and Gudrun's mum, the guests were all people who happened to be present. Due to the International Statute of Wizarding Secrecy restricting knowledge of the existence of the wizarding world to only the most direct Muggle relatives involved in the witch or wizard's life, Gudrun couldn't have invited many Muggle relatives anyway, and the most important one, her mother, _was _present. Matt said he hadn't ever been that close to his aunts and uncles. He'd actually thought it would be better this way, since he wouldn't have had any patience for their disapproving glances caused by their pureblood ideals. He was certain most of them wouldn't approve because Gudrun was Muggle-born.

"Yeah, I bet I know why she's glowing," Roverano whispered. "The way they disappeared right after the wedding ceremony, I'm sure they must've consummated—" He grunted as Helga's large elbow caught him in the gut. 

Hwang sniggered.

Captain Faust, who had recorded the wedding ceremony for all those who couldn't be present, positioned himself in a corner of the room to get the best shot possible of the continuation ritual of the Consanguinity Charm.

Aberforth cleared his throat. "I feel I ought to make an opening speech, but I really have no idea what to say. I don't know if I would have been able to do this had it not been for Marcus Ignatius Archidiaconus, my great-great-great-great-grandfather, and the groom's great-great-great-great…" The old wizard hesitated and began counting on his fingers, giving up when he ran out of digits. "Well, it would suffice to say that he was our common ancestor. He has offered to help me lead the ritual and make sure that the couple, and myself, pronounce the Draconian enchantments accurately. This is a favour for which I am very grateful, because I've never really been proficient." He gestured towards a lone wizard in a painting a dozen feet or so to the right of the fireplace.

Hermione heard someone behind her begin to applaud, and everyone in the room joined in. The purple-eyed wizard in the painting bowed.

"Gudrun, Matt, please join me on this side of the table, for you both need to add some of the final touches to the potion yourselves," Aberforth said after the clapping had died down.

It took a while before they got to the truly interesting part. Every so often Matt and Gudrun had to add a pinch of a certain ingredient and utter the appropriate incantation. The runes on the cauldron glowed after every incantation, indicating that it had been done properly, according to Marcus Ignatius.

Then the moment finally arrived and Aberforth used the dipper to ladle some of the potion out of the cauldron, pouring it into the chalice. Marcus instructed Matt and Gudrun to take the sceptre, both holding onto it at the same spot just below the large diamond, she in her left hand and he in his right, interlacing their fingers. Aberforth was told to lay his hand on the diamonds and repeat Marcus' words exactly. The diamond began to shine like a small red sun, bathing the entire room in its light for a few seconds. When the light died away, there was a clicking sound and Matt and Gudrun both winced, but didn't let go of the sceptre.

Aberforth nodded to Captain Sharif, who placed the chalice below the sceptre. Everyone looked on as the all the gemstones along the shaft shimmered in turn, tracing a path from top to bottom. When the lowermost gemstones shimmered, Hermione discerned a droplet forming at the bottom of the shaft. It fell down into the chalice causing a reaction in the potion that made a whooshing sound and produced an amber puff of smoke.

"Exactly the right colour, beautifully done," Marcus said. "Now the brew must be drunk. Matthew must hold the cup and allow the spouse to drink first…a mouthful will suffice. Then he will hand the her the cup and she will do the same for him."

Aberforth took the sceptre from Matt and Gudrun and placed it on its pillow again. Matt then took the chalice and brought it to Gudrun's lips, tipping it towards her ever so slightly, allowing her to take a sip. Then Gudrun repeated the process. She looked at the portrait uncertainly after Matt had taken his mouthful.

"You may put the chalice on the table again. The ritual is complete!"

"Can I kiss the bride?" Matt asked.

"It isn't part of the ritual, but it couldn't hurt. Go ahead." The portrait smiled.

Matt smiled and bent down, lightly kissing Gudrun on the lips. She wouldn't have any of it though, and she grabbed the collar of his robes, pulling him into a deeper kiss.

Again there was applause, this time instigated by Lilia. Helga followed her example with tears streaming down her large rosy cheeks. Second later the room echoed with the sound of it, and even the crowd in the portraits had joined in. Then Mary rose from her bench and rushed over to her parents and hugged them around the waist. Ooh's, aah's and an assortment of different exclamations of surprise rang through the applause as they saw the warm amber glow that surrounded her. Matt and Gudrun broke their kiss and Matt picked up his daughter, planting a firm kiss on her forehead.

By all signs the ritual had been successful. Malfoy wouldn't be able to enter the vault any longer, Hermione thought with satisfaction. 

*

Draco tried to keep his features impassive as he made his way to his quarters. Anastasiou had been furious about the costly loss of so many henchmen with virtually nothing to show for it. All they had managed to take was a bunch of uncut gemstones of low quality, having the wrong colours and many inclusions. It was a meagre haul.

He had to pass the Mistress's chambers to get to his own, and there was a good chance he'd run into either Anastasiou himself or his favourite lackey, telling her what had happened. Those vampires would probably be able to smell the chemical processes in his body caused by his distress and ask questions he really didn't feel like answering.

But that wasn't what worried him the most. He had taken the Dust many hours ago, but it still hadn't worn off. Quite the opposite, he was picking up random thoughts from nearly every being in the compound. One wizard was plotting to poison another to take over his position. A witch having doubts about joining the organisation and wanting out. A wizard working out the details of executing the former, whose doubts had been discovered and had thus been marked a liability. But the thoughts from one being nearly drowned them all out. He couldn't make heads or tails out of it. All he could make out that it was a she, and that she was afraid.

An image flashed through his mind, taking precedence over the sensory input from his eyes, effectively blinding him to anything but her thoughts. He slowly moved to the side of the corridor, feeling for the wall, and leaned against the cool surface when he found it. He only hoped any passers-by would have enough sense to leave him alone until he recovered. It wouldn't do him any good for any of them to think he was going insane, or that the single dose of Mind Reading Dust hadn't lost its effect yet.

More images forced their way into his mind. He realised that it couldn't be real. It had to be a dream of some sort. The vantage point was rather low, like a child looking up at adults. There were Muggles all around. They wore roughly spun clothes and their faces were stained with dirt, like they didn't bathe frequently. It was a small village with some simple huts. Then the world whirled and he was lying facedown in the mud. He could feel the fear and incomprehension rise to the surface…not his own, but belonging to the person who was dreaming. 

Something hit him in the back. The village children were throwing mud and rocks in his direction, and all he knew was he wanted to get away. The next thing he knew he was standing some thirty feet behind them. They blinked stupidly at the spot he'd previously been until one of them spotted him. The yelling, though in a language that had long ago ceased to exist in that form, was understandable. He could understand them through the person whose dream he was seeing.

__

Demon spawn…_witch_…they yelled. Draco could feel his host's confusion. She didn't want to hurt anyone. She wanted to play with the other children. The images blurred as tears filled her eyes. She spotted an adult and hope welled up inside her. He'd help her…he'd set the others straight for her. But her hopes were dashed when he didn't. Instead, he pointed his primitive pitchfork at her when she tried to approach him and roared an alert to the other villagers. The chief came rushing out of his hut brandishing a sword.

They were going to kill her! But she didn't want to die. She hadn't done anything wrong. Hadn't she helped better than the other children when they'd brought in the harvest? Hadn't she so nicely mended the chieftain's clothes and polished his shield?

The man with the pitchfork accused her of demon magic, vanishing and reappearing. Other villagers had seen it too, and they quickly joined him in accusation…so did the children. The man with the pitchfork demanded that she'd be killed. But the chief hesitated. He didn't want to kill her. Draco felt the hope flare in the dreamer's heart. She thought he would protect her! He would let her stay in the village and give her food and shelter even though she was no-one's child.

He said she was no demon, because he had seen her be burned by glowing embers a few nights before. Demons could not be burned, so she wasn't a demon. She was merely a child possessed by one, and it was not their place to kill her. Her fate and salvation lay in the hands of higher beings. She was to be banished.

She screamed and cried, not wanting to be banished. Winter was approaching. Where would she go? She wouldn't have anything to eat. But the look in the chief's eyes told her she had to go. They would kill her if she stayed. He had managed to save her from immediate death, but he couldn't allow her to remain. With a dull ache in her heart she ran out of the village. It had happened again. She had been chased out of another village.

The image in his mind shifted. Time had passed she was hungry and cold. She didn't have any strength left and she lay down under a tree to rest. It shed its leaves and they covered her completely. They felt damp at first but grew a bit warmer after a while. She began to doze off, and deep down she knew she wouldn't awaken again once she did. She heard some leaves rustle and turned her head with utmost difficulty to see what was making the noise. A horse…a beautiful white horse with a horn on its head, and next to it was a cat. The girl hadn't known about Unicorns, though she was obviously a witch. Then darkness overtook her.

She was no longer cold. She was very warm. She heard the crackling of flames consuming wood, and there was a spicy scent in the air. She opened her eyes and saw she was indoors, lying on a pile of animal skins with one draped over her. The same cat she had seen jumped on top of the skin covering her and settled between her legs, purring at her it regarded her with half-closed eyes.

Someone touched her shoulder and gently pushed her upright. It was a tall and powerfully built young man, but she wasn't intimidated, because he had a kind face. His eyes were strange, but very beautiful. She had never seen any eyes like them. He handed her a cup containing a spicy smelling brew and she slowly took a sip. It warmed her insides. Then he handed her a small bowl. It had several chopped roots, some edible berries and a small piece of meat…meat! Meat was for the rich, occasionally eaten by commoners on special days, or people foolish enough to risk poaching on the land of rich men. Her appetite had returned with a vengeance and she dug in voraciously. She was grateful.

He asked her about her life, why she had been alone in the forest. Haltingly she began telling him about being chased out of every village she'd been in. When he asked her why, she didn't want to tell him. She was afraid that he'd chase her out of his home into the cold winter night. Then he asked her whether it was because strange things happened every time she was around. She looked into his eyes, yet to her surprise she saw not hostility, but understanding. He drew a thin piece of wood from his boots and traced it into the air, drawing a picture rough picture of a bird.

It was magic. He could do it because he was a wizard and his parents had been wizards. But he explained that sometimes there were people who didn't get magic from their parents, and that she was such a person. He said that others were always afraid when they saw magic because they didn't understand.

Draco wasn't sure how much time had passed on the outside when he finally regained control of his own senses. Dreams tended to warp time. However, even if anyone had seen him, the information he'd just gained was interesting enough to make up for that. Interesting and revolting! As the dream progressed he'd been able to identify the dreamer…the Mistress…a Mudblood! She wasn't a witch with visions of conquest. She was nothing but a scared little girl who had become what she had become to avenge the man who had taught her magic…the man she had loved. She had been looking for ways to bring him back from the dead, experimenting with herself in the process. She had sworn never to run from Muggles again. 

But when push would come to shove, Draco seriously doubted that she'd lift even a finger to come to Anastasiou's aid. She didn't share any of his goals. She was nothing but baggage, revelling in the security provided by the dumb vampire. They'd have to get rid of her as soon as possible. But how was he going to convince Anastasiou to do that? He'd never pull it off. The vampire would want to know where he got his information. There was no such information in any manuscript, and he wasn't willing to reveal the odd effects of Mind Reading Dust just yet.

He couldn't trust anyone with that knowledge, but there _was_ a wizard he could trust not to sell him out to Anastasiou due to his own interests and agendas. _Yamato!_ If anyone would be able to explain Draco's reaction to Dust, it would be him. And Draco also knew that Yamato was more than fed up with his forced servitude. Ever since they'd twisted his arm to get him back into the fold, he must have been working on some means to break free. Putting his pet parasitic personality in one of the most powerful wizards in the world was a good start. But he needed more allies, and Draco felt it was about time to start broadening his options. He couldn't _trust_ Yamato, but he _could_ trust him to co-operate because their goals coincided...for the moment. He'd have to think of a contingency plan in case their paths diverged sooner than it suited Draco.

He turned around, and instead of going to his quarters to lie down he decided to look for the artificing necromancer, finding him working on a new anti-magic-field generator in his workshop. To his surprise, he saw Wolfe sitting in a magical cage with unbreakable bars.

"Why do you have him caged?"

"Mr Malfoy, I am rather busy right now. I'd appreciate it if you could come back later," Yamato said without looking up.

"I believe what I have to tell you is important enough to warrant your immediate attention," Draco said stiffly.

"Is that so?" Yamato muttered. His unflattering thoughts jumped out at Draco.

"That's so. I assure you I'm not being a…well…something must have got lost in the translation, but I'm sure mine is bigger than yours." That got Yamato's attention, and he slowly looked up from his work, eyes Draco curiously. "No, only that one dosage." Draco answered his thoughts. "I was wondering why."

"Step into the office," Yamato said casually, and led Draco over to an overly neat office. In fact, the workshop had been very neat as well, much too neat for a workshop…clearly a sign of its occupant's diseased mind. The Japanese wizard took what look like a palm-sized version of an anti-magic device and tapped one of its surfaces with his wand. "To ensure Anastasiou's eavesdroppers hear us talking about irrelevant things," he explained. "So you've only taken a single dose of Dust, yet its effects haven't worn off?"

"That's right."

"Interesting."

"I thought so too. I want to know why!" Draco said impatiently. "I've been catching bits and pieces of people's thoughts for hours now. It's uncontrollable and more importantly, it's driving me insane!"

"You wouldn't happen to have the tube that contained the Dust, would you?"

Draco _had_ saved it, and he patted his pockets to find it. He gave it to Yamato. "What do you want with it, anyway?"

"I'm going to check the residue to see if the dose had somehow been contaminated. If so, I need to know how to recreate it because it would obviously be much more potent than regular dust. Yet it could also be you, Mr Malfoy. I'll need to know about your medical history, allergies, any potions you might have been taking for any length of time."

"Really?" Draco scoffed. "So you can poison me and make it look like an accident…an allergic reaction?"

"If you had been reading me, you would have known I hadn't been thinking that, but thanks for the idea," Yamato smirked. "No, Mr Malfoy, I need to know because such things may alter a person's biochemistry to the point that he reacts differently to some substances than others do."

"Including hereditary things?" Draco asked, remembering what the Mudblood Granger's mind had revealed to him.

"Especially those!"

Draco sighed. "When Granger discovered I was reading her mind, she made the connection to Ironheart, that Ranger commander. It would seem _he_ is my biological grandfather."

Yamato's beady eyes lit up malevolently. "_Really?_ Yes, that might exactly be the explanation you're looking for, Mr Malfoy, because that's how Dust works. All wizards have the latent ability to read minds. Some learn to tap into this ability through Legilimency, and through practice they can become so efficient that they no longer need to point their wand or utter the spell out loud to perform it. I am proficient enough myself. But the reason I developed Dust is because Legilimency can be blocked by something as simple as a Shield Charm. The best way is to learn Occlumency, of course, but there are other ways to defend yourself. The inborn gift of Mind Reading, however, is much subtler and more powerful. Even young Mind Readers proved to be more adept at reading people than wizards with a century's worth of experience in Legilimency, and more importantly, it couldn't be blocked by Shield Charms. Occlumency still worked, but even that wasn't foolproof against aged Mind Readers. There is a good chance, Mr Malfoy, that due to your second degree relations to a Mind Reader, your latent ability has been activated permanently."

"What?" Draco exclaimed angrily. "Are you telling me I'll be hearing voices for the rest of my life?"

"No, I'm not. In case you haven't noticed, Mind Readers don't go insane. I've read some of their journals and it would seem that they all go through the stage you are in right now, and that they eventually learn to tune the voices out unless someone is in mental distress and really "broadcasting," as they call it. However, there is no way of predicting how it might progress in your case. Perhaps the effect will wear off after all, or in the worst case scenario, you get stuck in that stage forever," he added with malicious glee.

"You _can_ develop an antidote, right?"

"Why would I waste my precious time doing that?"

"Because I have nothing to lose and you really can't use any more enemies in your miserable life!" Draco answered sharply. He drew his wand and concentrated…not an easy task with all the voices echoing through his mind…but he finally succeeded. He moved his wand in the correct way and muttered the incantation, causing the wand to glow with a greenish light at the tip. "You will swear to either help me complete the transformation to a Mind Reader or to reverse my current condition if that proves to be impossible. If you don't, I'll be forced to tell Anastasiou about that little device on your desk. And trust me, if you submit to this hex now only to betray me later, its effects will be most unpleasant. In fact, I think it will be an exceptionally powerful hex because I can see your brainwaves in my mind. Your intelligence will be reduced to a cockroach's."

The vibes of smugness he'd been getting from the Japanese wizard transformed into waves of annoyance. "Very well, but it would only be fair for you to submit to a similar enchantment. Mutual co-operation must be the path to our goals, must it not?"

Draco was grateful for the Mind Reading ability. He could see that the wizard wasn't trying to trick him into subjecting himself to a darker hex, and if Yamato knew Occlumency he certainly wasn't using it then, because Draco still had a clear read on his thoughts. And even if he had been trying to hide his thoughts, Draco suspected what the wizard had said earlier was true. Even Occlumency couldn't guarantee a completely sealed mind against this form of Mind Reading. It must have been the reason why they developed.

They drafted a kind of contract, like a mutual non-aggression and betrayal pact, placed both their hexes on the parchment and burned the evidence. Yamato wasn't happy about it, and neither was Draco, for both hexes had been particularly vicious and mentally crippling if one of them were to break the pact. They were stuck together for better or worse, in sickness and in health, till death do them part…and they couldn't even kill each other!

"So…" Draco glanced out of the office and into the workshop. "Why is he in that cage, anyway?"

"It appears Wolfe came very close to breaking Maximus' control when he saw you torture that Granger woman. If he _had_, we'd both be dead now."

"You're awfully calm about it," Draco said testily, trying not to let his distress show. "And you're _still_ keeping him? If Anastasiou hears about this, he'll—"

"I can imagine what he'd do. He won't be hearing it from you, though." Yamato grinned, reminding Draco of the contract. "You can't betray _any_ of my projects."

"You still haven't answered my question. Why risk all of our lives? Does your ego get some sort of boost from having a Ranger as a pet? If that's it, it isn't good enough a reason."

"You can't do anything about it."

"But I can certainly keep _nagging_, which is exactly what I intend to do."

"You remind me of my wife. She was a nag too…that's why I killed her."

"Thanks to that stupid contract, we're as good as married," Draco smirked. "Too bad that same contract prevents you from killing me, eh? And what do you mean I remind you of your wife? Are you implying something about my preference?"

"Only repeating the rumours I hear," Yamato shrugged. "And to answer your earlier question, that cage is designed to hold very powerful wizards. It interferes with wands, and I'm tuning it to detect wand-less magic as well, discharging a painful curse into its occupant whenever wand-less magic is attempted. Maximus says it is the only safe place for him to occupy for the time being, until he's established complete control."

"He still doesn't have it?"

"There are periodic struggles within, getting more and more infrequent. In time, Maximus will have complete control. As you have experienced, he already has control of most of Wolfe's skills…unfortunately, Mind Reading isn't one of them. The other parts of the memory are still tightly locked up…memories of Wolfe's life…the secrets of the Order of Illumination. I doubt we will get to those any time soon. Now, if you'll excuse me for a moment, I have to go to the laboratory and fetch some of my equipment there. I will need a blood-sample from you."

"Why do you need a sample, and why take it in here?"

"To make a chemical analysis and catalogue the results. I'm certain they'll be different from samples from other subjects. The information will help me synthesise an agent that might help you if you remain stuck in the current phase. And this office is the only place I know that is completely secure. You don't want anyone to ask the wrong questions, do you?"

And Yamato wanted to go alone because it wasn't a good idea for them to be seen together. Draco nodded. "I'm not going anywhere."

After Yamato had departed, Draco wandered around the workshop, consciously keeping as far away from the cage as possible and pretending to ignore the Ranger. But his curiosity was piqued when he saw him toying with a pendant. "Where did you get that?"

"I found it lying in one of the hallways when I was searching for Kelly."

Draco remembered that Maximus had indeed briefly searched for Kelly after Draco had insisted upon this with Yamato, only to be called back when they'd heard the noise behind the heavy doors that led to parts of the vault they hadn't been in yet.

"It wasn't in the vault?"

Maximus shook his head.

Draco stepped a bit closer to take a better look at the jewel. It was a simple tear-shaped pendant. Maybe it had belonged to one of the Rangers or even one of their own people who hadn't made it back. It was unimportant. As far as he was concerned, Maximus could keep it, and he continued to prowl around the workshop, pinching his nose as he passed the foul-smelling body made up of several mismatched body parts. It wasn't the smell of rot, but the equally foul smell of the special preservative used on this type of zombie, or _flesh golem_, as Yamato referred to them.

He was annoyed by the sudden return of the whispering voices in his head. His annoyance was replaced by curiosity when he realised that it was another strange language. Gradually, his subconscious was able to interpret the language. This voice was different. It was trying to communicate with him…calling to him. It seemed to get louder when he walked in a certain direction, fainter when he walked in another. Feigning nonchalance, he casually strolled over to a pile of uncut gemstones, the same ones they'd captured. One of them seemed to draw his gaze towards it. It looked like bloodstone…rough and of poor quality. When he picked it up, his senses were assaulted by thousands of sounds and images. It lasted a few seconds only, but Draco knew there had to be something about that stone…something that the one who had taken it to the compound had obviously missed. He briefly checked whether Maximus was watching. He was toying with the pendant and not paying any attention to Draco, so he quickly slipped the stone into his pocket. It seemed to sense that it was not the best time to resume communication attempts, and its call lessened to an indistinct buzzing at the back of Draco's consciousness.

*

"Ginny! Ginny, you haven't seen a tear-shaped gold pendant anywhere, have you?" Aberforth asked with a worried look on his face.

Ginny shook her head.

"Oh dear, I must have lost it when I was unconscious," the old wizard muttered. "They must've taken it…can't believe it I lost it…"

"Was it really important, then?" Ginny asked.

"Terribly important…it was one of the pendants that used to belong to Maximilian and Jasmine. That pendant had hidden magical powers. I brought it over to see if I could find references to it in the library here. Oh dear, in the wrong hands…in the wrong hands—"

"I think they could have searched you when you were unconscious and taken it," Ginny suggested. "Maybe one of the people we caught had it with him. You ought to ask Captain Kovalenko if she found it."

"Ah, I hadn't thought of that," Aberforth said as some semblance of hope returned to his old face. "Thank you, Ginny!"

Ginny nodded and forced a smile onto her face. It wasn't easy, considering she was about to do the most difficult thing she'd ever done. She'd had wanted to get it over with much sooner, but she hadn't had an opportunity to do so, and she'd wanted to wait for Holly to leave first. The _Typhoon_ had taken her, Nicolai and Mary back to the Citadel an hour ago.

She saw Ron coming out of the vault, his eyes bloodshot from lack of sleep. "Oy, Ginny, how's the Cruiser coming along?" he asked, stifling a yawn.

"Nearly done. Weren't you supposed to have been relieved?" she asked. The Artificers, aided by the Curse Breakers who had pitched in to get the work done more quickly, hadworked in teams of three, with the hours of two teams overlapping while the third team took a rest. She hadn't been able to take advantage of that period, though, since the anxiety she'd been feeling had been too severe. Instead, she'd lain awake as the words she was planning to say spiralled around and around inside her mind and heart in ever-tightening chains, squeezing her misery out drop by drop. Now that the moment had arrived, it was infinitely worse, however, and she barely felt the fatigue she should have been feeling.

"Something came up. Logos went bonkers when he found out that something very important was stolen. He said it had been hidden in a pile of worthless stones in a vault with no security charms."

Even though she was tired and her mind on far more personal matters, Ginny saw the paradox in that statement. "Why put it there if it were so important?"

"That vault _did _have one type of security charm on it, specifically for that thingy. It ought to have rendered it invisible, tug it away from groping hands and protect it from summoning charms and such things. The charm failed, though. We think the anti-magic device could have interfered with that particular charm. Lucky it didn't disable the _other_ security."

"How does Logos know it's missing?" Ginny asked, wondering how Logos knew it was gone when no one was supposed to be able to see it.

"He _could_ see it. That thingy was the reason Logos was created in the first place. He was supposed to help guard it. It's called the Periapt of Absolute Power, but it doesn't really look like an amulet. He says it looks like a plain old and ugly bloodstone. But it's supposed to have awesome powers. Hermione, Harry, Matt and I spent all this time poring through books to find information about it. Kelly wasn't much help, though." Ron grinned. "He couldn't think coherently after Gudrun was through with him, though I heard Gudrun wasn't much help with the Cruiser either."

Ginny nodded, inwardly wincing at the memory. A glowing Gudrun had stumbled into the Cruiser with a blissfully vacant expression on her face, and Hwang had sent her away again when it became apparent that she wouldn't be of any help. The men shared a hearty laugh after Roverano made a rather rude comment about Matt being responsible for Gudrun's temporary senselessness.

"Ah, well, I suppose it would've been cruel to ask those two to abstain," Ron chuckled.

Ginny felt even more miserable as Ron reminded her of it. Gudrun and Matt had been in the same boat as she and Harry. Then it had turned out that Mary had been Matt's daughter all along. So instead of coming between them, Mary had brought them together. But Holly wasn't _her_ daughter, only Harry's…

"Find anything about that Periapt thingy?" she asked, trying very hard not to lose her composure and break down there and then.

Ron nodded. "Yeah, but not much. All we know is that it is supposed to be really powerful. The bright side is that it takes a Mind Reader recognise it, because it had telepathic abilities. The downside is that the bad guys have one…Wolfe. I just told Commander Ironheart about it." He gave her an inquisitive look. "So, are you going to talk to Harry now?"

"Yeah," Ginny faked a smile. She knew it wasn't very convincing, but thankfully, Ron seemed to be too tired to notice. 

"Great! I don't think he's in the library anymore, though. I think he went to the kitchen. Know where that is?"

Ginny was sure she could remember. "Yeah."

"Good luck," Ron gave her shoulder a squeeze and headed back in the direction of the stairs. Dragging her feet, Ginny made her way to the kitchen. She paused outside the closed door and tried to will herself to remain calm, but her stomach felt like it was tied in knots with barbed wire. She gulped for breath and opened the door. Harry was alone, sitting at the table with a cup of tea in front of him. 

"Ginny!" he said and started to get up. But she gestured for him to remain seated. She deliberately took a seat on the opposite side of the table, instead of one of the seats next to him. She finally looked at him directly, but found it hard to actually meet his eyes.

"We've put this off long enough, haven't we?" she asked with a sad smile.

Deathly pale, Harry nodded uncertainly.

"We need to talk about the impact Holly will have on our lives."

"Ginny, I'm sorry I didn't tell—"

Ginny cut him off. "That doesn't matter. My reaction more than justified your fears." 

"Does that mean I'm forgiven?" he asked hopefully.

She stared at her reflection in the polished tabletop without answering, knowing she had to choose her words carefully. "When Holly turned up…I was hurt, Harry. I was hurt and I was angry. I was briefly angry with you, until I realised it was my own fault. Holly wouldn't have been born if I hadn't been so horrible to you to begin with."

"Ginny, if I hadn't become a Ranger, lots of things would have gone differently, and not all of them for the better. It's no use dwelling on what could have been."

Ginny swallowed away the lump forming in her throat. She had reached the same conclusion. It _was _useless to dwell on what could have been.

"I was jealous because I wanted to be number one in your heart, but I knew that would be impossible with Holly around. I even thought about asking you to send her back to the Mirror Realm," she continued, before Harry could deny the obvious. "I was going to ask you if you even _could_ choose between us…but after what you said earlier, it seems obvious that you've already made your choice. 'Holly, Holly, Holly,'" she repeated slowly, "'you're the best thing that ever happened to me!'" She tried to breathe around the lump that had stubbornly risen in her throat again. "If she's the best thing that's ever happened to you, then where does that leave me? Maybe I was first in your heart before you met her…but that obviously isn't the case anymore."

"But—"

"_She_ is…and I have to accept that you don't need me as much as you need her."

"Ginny, that's not true!" Harry erupted. "Holly's my _daughter_. You shouldn't see her as your rival!"

"It isn't like that!" she snapped back. She cursed inwardly as her voice rose, but she couldn't stop the words now. "It was about being the first one in your heart—the one that you love most! Perhaps it's selfish of me to think like that…but it's what I _feel_ in _my_ heart. I can't just ignore that! I can't just _lie_ and pretend that it's not true!" She placed her hands flat on the table with exaggerated care, willing herself not to gouge strips out of the wood with her fingernails. "If she'd been my own daughter, _our_ daughter, I could have taken second place to her. I would have understood if that had been the case… I know how much you've wanted a family of your own. But the fact remains that she isn't mine. She isn't _ours_. And I… I don't know where I fit into your life anymore. I don't know _if_ I fit into your life."

"We're Twin Flames, Ginny!" Harry said desperately. "Lieutenant Cliff said so, and you've seen the evidence yourself! Don't you remember the light that always shines when we're together? We're two halves of the same soul!"

Ginny was momentarily taken aback by that revelation, but she recovered quickly. There was no denying that there was a unique connection between her and Harry. They probably _were_ Twin Flames…but she also knew a thing or two about the phenomenon, and that gave her new ammunition. "Maybe you're right. But the two halves can become separated as times and circumstances change, Harry. And lest we forget, they _don't_ have to be lovers. We used to be lovers, but our circumstances have changed."

Harry's eyes widened with fear and worry. "What are you saying? Are you saying you don't love me anymore?" he asked with a wavering voice. "Look me in the eye and tell me you don't love me anymore!"

Ginny couldn't tell him that, because it would be a lie. She _did_ love him, and that was why she had to do this now. She couldn't give up when she'd already come this far. His happiness meant everything to her, and he would never be truly happy with her. Her jealousy would cast a shadow over everything they might have tried to build together in the future. She hoped that in time, he'd understand her decision to clear the way towards his happiness, even if it meant ripping out her own heart.

She pulled the ruined engagement ring out of her pocket. "You told me the goblin who sold you this told you the diamond would reflect my love for you. I think this answers your question." She placed the ring on the table and slid it over to him. "I'm sorry. It…it's just better this way. Better for you, and better for her. I—I'm sorry."

She rose from her seat and calmly walked out of the kitchen, trying her best not to appear too upset, fighting her impulses to run away because it would ruin everything. She locked herself in the first room that looked it would lend her a few minutes of privacy. She stood there for a moment, then leaned back against the door and slid to the floor, her shoulders shaking violently. Only then did she allow herself to cry.

***

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Author's Note: You guys can bitch about Ginny all you want. True, her actions are misguided, but remember that she's still very shaken up, _and_ her special connection to Harry makes things worse.

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BigDaddy: Not everyone gets a happy ending.

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LadySiri: The prophecy was very specific. Only one will emerge.

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Gogirl: Now you know what the evil cackle was about. *evil cackle*

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Foxfur: The mistake should have been corrected. And Ron's quick reaction was out of experience. ;-) Parselmouths are special. The power of a Lingomagus doesn't include Parseltongue. It's sort of hard to describe this made up power. 

It covers all the intelligent creatures, with some exceptions. Troll is among the languages a Lingomagus could speak, even if the native speakers are dumb. And while Unicorns and Kneazles have been described as very intelligent, a Lingomagus can't talk to _them_ because they can't formulate human speech, whereas trolls can, though they typically never learn more than a few words. I know Merfolk can't vocalise human speech either, but the reverse _is _true, so Lingomagi can speak Mermish. It's tricky, I can't use intelligence nor being humanoid as criteria. But I hope I've given you an impression what the gift covers. Oh yeah, and I suppose they could speak to gnomes and leprechauns if these creatures have native languages. Same goes for centaurs.

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devilsbard: I would have been more happy if you'd told me exactly what you liked about it, but thanks all the same.

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Stefanie: First of all, don't mention it. 

Second of all, they _are _cute aren't they? There's no guarantee that they'll end up together, though. People as intelligent as Nicolai often have trouble relating to other people.

Thirdly, sorry I couldn't accommodate your request.

Fourthly, I'm sorry, but like I said, the prophecy is very specific. Only one will emerge.

Fifthly, I also agree with Jane Grey. My betas warned me that I was going a bit overboard too.

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Brdurf: I'll keep updating. But next time try to tell me what exactly you liked, and disliked.

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someone: I'm not sure if you're a real person or a double reviewer. If you want a specific answer, leave a specific name.

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R.J.: Yeah, I know it is hard to keep track of every single detail in every little fic you follow.

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bane: Well, it's true!

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nycgal: Can he convert? Well, that's actually a good question. In my little version of that Harry Potter universe the Japanese wizarding society will occasionally intermarry with a gajin, (the Japanese term for what you would call gentile) if their achievements (or lineage) are particularly exceptional. These individuals would be adopted into one of the clans, which would be akin to conversion, I suppose. But the _imperial_ line is still off limits…

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Starwest45: Holly's staying out of Ginny's way for the greater good. (That doesn't mean that she doesn't get to see Harry from time to time.)

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Link76: The bonding between Holly and Harry won't happen on screen.

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Lamina Court: I'm using this method to stimulate reviewers because statistics with a broader base are more reliable. For example, that fact that so many people complained about Ginny tells me that I should have written it differently to evoke more sympathy for her plight. I thought about writing a narrative from Hermione's POV to explain Ginny's actions, but I decided against it because even Hermione could possibly know exactly why Ginny's reaction is so extreme, and as a writer I didn't want to pre-chew my entire subplot for the readers. I was hoping you'd sink your teeth into it like Foxfur and my betas did and _understand_ instead of just react.

You think I'm doing this for the reviews and not for the enjoyment of writing? You don't know _anything_ about me. I'm one of those people who occasionally talk to himself due to an overactive imagination. Thanks to the therapeutic quality of writing I don't do that anymore because I have an outlet.

When my PC broke down I nearly went nuts because I wouldn't be able to write for a while. I'm saving for a second one to have an immediate replacement in case that happens again.

I _love_ writing, and now you accuse me of doing this? Fuck you! You can go to hell! You might as well stop reading because I don't give a shit about your opinion anymore.

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Lady Reaper of the Shadows: I know I said 605 before the next chapter, but 603 are more than enough. It was never about the amount of reviews, though some people might accuse me of that.

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Philip: I was going to make this a trilogy, but now I'm not so sure anymore. People might accuse me of worrying more about getting reviews than writing it properly.

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Wouldn't U Like 2 know: This chapter should have granted you all your wishes.

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RicaSieg(akaBlossom): Long time no hear. Nice to know you're still alive. Could you review or e-mail me with your exact likes or dislikes, if it isn't too much trouble? I really appreciated your critique on EaL.

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x wolfpup x: You managed to do it in a single night? Either you're the new world-champion speed-reader or you missed a lot of important details. Not that I don't appreciate the fact that you took the time to tell me you like it. :-)

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Lioness-07863: Nah, I don't think she's threatened by Carey's looks.

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Lord Dreadnault: Harry isn't an ordinary man, but wise words all the same.

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Petals: Nicolai's a prodigy, meaning he had an I.Q. of 180 plus. Definitely plus! Such kids realise that grownups are hypocrites by age 4. Oh, and you'll always be Petals to me. ;-)

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Casual Reader: You were right about Nicolai getting a big role in the future. I was planning it for the third instalment of the saga. Unfortunately I may not write that story anymore, due to a very demoralising comment I got.

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Jake: Curry sympathy? Oh man, not you too!

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Siri Kat: Not every chapter can be action packed. But I see your point. I need to find a way to keep up the suspense even in the slow chapters. Thanks for your input.

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Ginny1946: I'm looking forward to it.


	29. Pulp

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Disclaimer + Author's note: I've borrowed a small snippet and a rather large chunk of dialogue from a series and film, respectively. Even though they were adapted to fit this universe, credit still ought to go to Straczynski and Tarantino. ;-) Oh, there was also a reference to The Matrix Reloaded, and this chapter is rated **R **for a reference to…well, you'll know it when you see it.

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Pulp

Chapter 29

Hermione had no idea what exactly Ginny and Harry had talked about. Neither Ginny nor Harry had been willing to talk about it to anyone else. The last time they'd been together had been a little over a week ago, at the Christmas celebration. She'd practically been able to taste the tension in the air. 

The celebration had been held in Matt, Mary and Gudrun's new home, Nathan and Helga's former home and right across the street from Hermione and Ron's own home. Hermione remembered Gudrun's interest in moving there due to its favourable location, and how the real-estate agents had given her a hard time. Apparently, Matt heard about it and bought the house immediately. Knowing that at the time Gudrun would never have accepted such a gift, he'd only told Ron about it, hoping that between the two of them they'd be able to come up with a good excuse to get her to accept it anyway. Even _after_ their marriage, when Matt finally mentioned it because Gudrun brought up the issue of living arrangements, Gudrun had mixed feelings about the whole thing. Hermione knew the Icelandic witch was still a bit uneasy about the amounts of gold Matt spent on her and her daughter's behalf, even though it was less than small change in Matt's eyes. Hermione was also surprised that Ron had gone along with Matt when he'd got the idea. She knew how sensitive Ron used to be about charity from friends.

"I could try and talk to Ginny or Harry once more before I leave for England again," Lupin suggested, as he slowly stirred a bit of sugar into the cup of tea in front of him. When Ginny had decided not to take Commander Ironheart up on his offer to go home for the holidays in combination with an assignment, Ironheart had brought Lupin to Concordia. It had been his attempt to bring Harry and Ginny back together, hoping that the soft-spoken man would be able to make them see reason, but it hadn't worked. Though they interacted without any sign of hostility, it was still clear that being in each other's presence was quite a trial for both of them. 

"You can try," Hermione said. "I doubt it'll be any different this time, though."

"I know, but it hurts me to see them like this." Lupin stared sadly at the logo of the _Sleeping Hippogriff Inn_ on his teacup, and Hermione suddenly felt irritated towards Harry and Ginny's behaviour even though she knew it hadn't been their intention to cast a shadow over one of the happiest moments in Lupin's life. Only a few days ago had he witnessed the full moon as a human being again. Wolfsbane Potion enriched with Miraculum Weed—as the original potion used to be brewed before Miraculum Weed vanished from their realm—suppressed the physical transformation as well as the mental one. Lupin looked much better for it. Though it still wasn't a permanent cure, it further improved a werewolf's quality of life. There was no need to recover from the painful transformation after every full moon anymore. 

Rosmerta, who had been Lupin's life-partner since about a year after the fall of Voldemort, swept into the lounge and sat on his lap. "Ready to go, my little howler?" she asked affectionately as she ran her hand through his grey-streaked hair.

Lupin blushed profusely at the nickname. "I thought we agreed not to call me that in public…" 

"You shouldn't be ashamed, love. Thanks to Harry Potter, it doesn't matter anymore anyway. I'm looking forward to lots of strolls under the full moon now that you're able."

"Me too," Lupin kissed her hand. "Well, I suppose it's time to take that Portkey back home."

"I hope you've enjoyed your stay," a new arrival in the lounge said. It was Commander Ironheart. He really had a knack for turning up unexpectedly, Hermione thought.

"It was most generous of you to partly cover the costs of our visit," Rosmerta said.

"I could hardly expect you to cover it all when it was my idea for Mr Lupin to come here in the first place. Like I said before, if it had been up to me, I would have let you stay at my house. But I'm afraid my wife is rather biased against certain magical creatures. That's something I never quite understood," he added grimly. "Like me, her own father is a Greater Incubus, which makes her a half incubus, as well."

Hermione was floored. Aria was half-demon too?

"Being female, she and my daughters never manifested the powers inherent to the heritage, of course. But the fact remains that she's quite the hypocrite for discriminating against dark creatures. I was willing to force the issue of your lodgings too, but it would have been impossible to clear away all the silver in time for your arrival…my wife's rather fond of the metal."

"That's all right, we wouldn't have wanted to intrude," Lupin said. "One can't be blamed for things one has no control over. Being what _I_ am, that's a rule I used to live by. But thanks to the Rangers, I may never have to transform again."

"The Order of Illumination can't take any credit. It was all Harry's doing, and he was a fine young man before we got him. I'd say you reaped the benefits of the seeds of friendship you yourself have sown. Harry told me it wouldn't even have occurred to him to bring back the weed if one of his friends hadn't been a werewolf." Ironheart shook his head. "He didn't deserve all that grief in the past, and he certainly doesn't deserve it now. I had hoped that your intervention might at least change both his and Ginny's view on things, give them a nudge in the right direction. However, in the end they will have to work things out themselves. Our interference might only make things worse."

"It's still frustrating that that I couldn't be of more help," Lupin said.

"You got them to be in the same room at Christmas," Hermione reminded him. "That's more than any of us have accomplished."

"We certainly can't forget that," Ironheart nodded. "Now, there's no reason to work ourselves into a depression. You ought to savour the knowledge that you'll never have to transform again."

Lupin managed a weak smile. "I will, don't worry about that," he said, and patted Rosmerta's knee. "Time to go. Our luggage?"

"The transport service will take it to the Transit Dome as soon as we give them the sign."

Moments later they were all in the Transit Dome. They said their goodbyes, and Hermione was glad to see Harry arrive just in time to give Lupin and Rosmerta a hug before they joined the queue that would take them to their Portkey. 

"Well, if it isn't Donovan Ironheart," a voice behind them growled.

Ironheart turned around slowly. "Mr Garibaldi," he answered stiffly. "Any complaints about the Rangers I sent down to help your people out today?"

Hermione saw Ramos and Larsson working with a few City Watch Officers at a customs post not too far away. Even though it was supposed to be one of their final disciplinary duties, they seemed to be having a great time, and the female watch officer that was there seemed to be getting more and more annoyed by their antics. Hermione recognised her…it was the same woman who had taken them to see Wolfe. It seemed like they still hadn't given her a proper-sized uniform. 

"No complaints from me," Garibaldi answered. "Although Heather might have some. No, I was just wondering what you've been up to lately, besides wrecking loving relationships, I mean," he added loudly enough for the people at the customs post to hear.

"Not much, really. Just saving the world and all that. Well, I have to go now." Ironheart turned to leave. "If those two jokers give you any trouble, don't hesitate to let me know…and _do_ give my regards to your wonderful, beautiful wife."

Garibaldi simply glared at Ironheart's retreating form, and the commander suddenly stopped and half-turned.

"Anatomically impossible, Mr Garibaldi. But you're welcome to try…anytime, anywhere!" he added with an insolent grin, before he strode away.

Garibaldi lowered his hand to the wand at his side, as if he were contemplating using it. Hermione tensed, unsure as to what she had to do if he drew. But he decided not to, and relieved, Hermione hurried after Commander Ironheart.

"I'm sorry you had to witness that," Ironheart said after she'd caught up with him. "The man is simply too paranoid…"

Hermione knew it wasn't really any of her business, so she didn't even ask. But there was one thing that she just had to get off her chest.

Ironheart chuckled. "You were shocked to hear about Aria."

Hermione nodded. "Is that why you married her? Because she's like you?"

"She's female, so she's nothing like me. Only the _male_ offspring of Greater Incubi can manifest their powers, like Veela only pass on their charming ability to their daughters. Well, there is something different, actually. While all Veela girls inherit their mother's power to some extent, the same isn't true for male incubi offspring. Only _one-in-three _incubus-sons manifest their sires' entrancing powers. Such a son, however, _will_ pass on the entrancing power to all his sons. For that reason I thank my lucky stars that I only had Avery, and had him with Tempeste."

"Why? Would it have made any difference if you had him with Aria?" Hermione asked.

"Yes. While the female offspring of Greater Incubi don't manifest their father's power, they still carry the incubus blood inside their veins. If Aria and I had had any sons together, I suspect their effect on women wouldn't have diminished in comparison to mine, because they would have been _half_ instead of _one-quarter_ incubi."

"How do you know?"

"Because Elena also passed on her heritage. I've sensed the power in Nicolai, and that wouldn't have been the case if only males passed on the power. Actually, it's much more powerful in Nicolai than it was in Max."

"He's one-quarter and Max is one-eighth!"

"Ah, you understand," Ironheart said. "Hmm, I might have to send Nicolai to a boys' school to avoid any problems later on. He's got too much incubus in him for me to be comfortable with the knowledge of him having access to girls. I don't want to be a great-grandfather by him before I reach eighty-five."

Though she wasn't an expert on the subject, she'd thought that the powers first manifested themselves when a child entered adolescence "Nicolai's manifesting his powers awfully early, isn't he? Part-Veela girls start showing their powers when they hit puberty. Am I wrong to assume the same goes for part-incubus boys?"

"No, you're not. The fact of the matter is that Nicolai has recently entered puberty. About a year ago, when my daughter and I took Nicolai to an interview with The Merovingian, the headmaster of the school for the exceptionally gifted here in Concordia, he told us it might happen. Apparently prodigies can develop up to twenty percent faster, both physically and sexually, than normal children do, provided that they grow up in the right conditions with adequate nutrition and such. I suppose it's a good thing, eh? After all, they mature much faster mentally and emotionally as well."

Hermione frowned. She knew that Nicolai went to a normal primary school for wizarding children. "Hold on, Nicolai didn't get accepted into the school then?"

"In the end we decided it wouldn't be such a good idea to let him attend. Nicolai's had a troubled enough childhood as it is. I didn't want to expose his mind to that freak's ranting. Wiping his arse with silk indeed!" Ironheart muttered. "But to answer your earlier question, my marriage to Aria did have something to do with her heritage. The clans of the incubi that sired us were on the brink of war with one another, and our union was devised as a means of pacifying matters. That's why I couldn't back out even after I met Tempeste, you see. Many people think the feud was between our human families, and I'm thinking you did too?"

"I did," Hermione admitted. "But I didn't know about Aria. Anyway, why not let them wipe each other out?" she frowned. "They'd hardly be missed."

Ironheart smiled. "Tell me, what are the differences between Greater and Lesser Incubi?"

Even though it was a strange question, Hermione knew Ironheart had to be going somewhere with it. She recalled what she had learnt about these magical beings in seventh-year Defence against the Dark Arts. She briefly wondered if the staff and the school board had ultimately accepted her petition to talk about the creatures as early as fifth year. Since the likelihood of virginity decreased as a witch aged and these beings were more attracted to virgins in the first place, she'd thought it a good idea. "Lesser Incubi only operate with unconscious victims while Greater Incubi tend to seduce their prey while awake. The Lesser only feed off their prey's energy and are unable to reproduce with humans, while the Greater _do_ reproduce with their prey under some special circumstances." 

"Under special circumstances," Ironheart nodded emphatically. "So incubus offspring are rare. Aria and I are the only registered offspring in a twenty-year time-span. And female offspring like Aria are _really_ rare. Now contemplate this for a second. What were most wizard descendants of incubi known for?"

"Oh…" Hermione suddenly understood.

"Exactly. Like Muggle and Muggle-born blood, a bit of incubus blood every now and then is good for the gene pool of the wizarding society. In fact, incubus heritage often boosts the power of its possessors. I am significantly more powerful than the average wizard is. And Merlin…well…he was something else. There are few enough Greater Incubi as it is. That war would have halved their numbers, and they may never have recovered. It would have had negative consequences for wizards as well."

*

"You mean to tell me you didn't know about the bad blood between Chief Garibaldi and Commander Ironheart?" Ramos asked incredulously after hearing Hermione's question. "Damn, I've only been here for a little while, but I already know about it."

"And you didn't tell me!" Larsson said peevishly.

"I assumed you already knew."

"From what Hermione told me, I reckon it has something to do with Garibaldi's wife," Ron said hoping to guide the conversation back on track.

Hermione nodded. "The bit about wrecking relationships suggested as much. I would have asked the commander himself, but I didn't want to be rude."

"So you decided to start asking behind his back?" Ramos smirked.

Hermione scowled. "Like you wouldn't have!" 

"Touché…and your assumption was correct." 

"What'd Ironheart do? Shag her?" Larsson frowned

"No no no no no no no, nothin' that bad."

"Well, what then?"

"He gave her a foot massage."

"A foot massage?"

Ramos nodded. "Yes."

"That's all?" Larson asked incredulously.

"Yes."

"What did Garibaldi do?"

"Apparently he sent a couple of hoods over to Ironheart's place to punish him for touching his new wife. The idea was to throw him over the balcony of the top floor. He should've sent more men, 'cause the commander took care of 'em easily enough." 

"Well, I have to say, play with Fire-Crabs, you get burned," Larsson said in between sips of his drink. 

"What do you mean?"

"Garibaldi and his wife were recently married, right? You don't go around giving other people's new brides a foot massage."

"You don't think he overreacted?"

"Ironheart probably didn't expect Garibaldi to react like he did, but he had to expect _some_ reaction."

Ramos shook his head. "It was a foot massage! A foot massage is nothing. I gave my _mother_ plenty of foot massages."

Ron and Hermione looked from Larsson to Ramos, unable to get a word in edgewise.

"It's laying hands on Garibaldi's new wife in a familiar way," Larsson replied. "Is it as bad as going down on her? No, but you're in the same Quidditch pitch."

"Whoa…whoa…whoa…stop right there. Going down on a woman and giving a woman a foot massage ain't even the same damned thing."

"Not the same thing, the same Quidditch pitch."

"It ain't no Quidditch pitch either. Look, maybe your method of massage differs from mine, but touching his lady's feet and sticking your tongue in her holiest of holy places ain't the same Quidditch pitch…ain't even the same league…heck, ain't even the same damned sport. Foot massages don't mean squat."

Larsson took another sip from his drink and grinned. "George, have you ever given a good foot massage?"

"Don't be telling me about foot massages. I'm the foot master."

"Given a lot of them?"

"Hell, yeah. I've got my technique down man. I don't tickle or anything."

"Have you ever given a _guy_ a foot massage?"

Ramos looked at his Swedish friend for a long moment as it slowly dawned on him that he'd been set up. "Damn you."

Larsson smirked. "How many?"

"Damn you!"

"Would you give _me_ a foot massage? I'm kind of tired."

"Man, you'd best back off. I'm getting pissed."

Examining Ramos, he didn't strike Ron as anywhere near drunkenness yet. "You're still on your first drink. How can you be pissed?"

Ramos blinked. "Huh?"

"Pissed is another word for angry or irritated in American," Larsson explained.

Ramos switched back to their previous topic of foot massages. "Look, just because I wouldn't give a man a foot massage doesn't make it right for Garibaldi to try and have Ironheart thrown off a building. Damn, if it had been me, I'd have gone after that Italian—"

"I'm not saying he was right, but you're saying a foot massage doesn't mean anything, and I'm saying it does. I've given lots of ladies lots of foot massages and they all meant something. We act like they don't, but they do. That's what's so damned cool about them. This sensual thing's going on that nobody's talking about, but you know it and she knows it. Garibaldi knew it, and Ironheart should have known better, especially on account of his reputation. I mean, that was Garibaldi's _wife_, man. He wasn't going to have a sense of humour about that!"

"That's an interesting point," Ramos acknowledged after a while. He turned to Hermione. "What does the woman of the table think about this?"

"I'm not even touching this with a Summoning Charm," Hermione answered.

"I think I'll ask Vesta while she's giving me a refill." Larsson rose from his seat and grabbed his glass. "I think tonight's the night, so don't wait up for me."

"Five Galleons say you'll be back before I leave!" Ramos quipped.

"I'm feeling lucky. You're on!" the Swede retorted, and swaggered over to the bar

"Honestly!" Hermione rolled her eyes. "Betting about things like that."

"Just having a bit of fun," Ramos said. "I always use my winnings to buy him a consolation drink anyway."

"Bloody hell, you two are crazy!" Ron laughed. "I'm not going to hang around to see how it works out. I have to get my solid eight hours for tomorrow."

"Solid eight hours? What if I had other plans?" Hermione batted her eyelashes theatrically.

Ron felt his face heat up. "Do you have to mention our love life in public? Taken a leaf out of Gudrun's book, have you?"

Ramos raised his hands. "Hey, don't mind me. I'm air!"

"And what if I have? Why does it bother you so much that Matt and Gudrun talk about it openly, anyway? Everyone knows we do what all healthy couples are supposed to do," Hermione said. She leaned over and traced small kisses along his jaw. 

"True, but Matt and Gudrun are freaks," Ron countered, reluctantly pulling away from her ministrations. "Mary spends most of her time at Ironheart's because they want privacy."

"Yeah, I heard about that. But why send the kid away?" Ramos frowned. "Why not just lock the door to the master bedroom?"

"They tried that once," Hermione smiled. "After half an hour she began pounding on the door and making a nuisance of herself. Needs a lot of attention, that one. At least Nicolai keeps her entertained. He's such a sweet boy! Did you know he's teaching Mary to swim?"

"The kid's a genius, too," Ramos said. "When I went up to the townhouse to drop Lilia off after our date on the 30th, he'd just finished playing that weird strategy game Ron likes so much. He beat Clara, and it had only been their second match."

Ron couldn't believe it. He couldn't imagine anyone being that good. It had taken him four matches before he got the hang of the game enough to _challenge_ Clara, and three more before he started winning. "Are you sure she didn't let him win?"

"Don't be jealous, Ron." Hermione patted his hand. "You heard how he talked to us back in the library at Caer Sidi. He's a prodigy. I wonder if his giftedness will also manifest itself in his magic. He could be the next Dumbledore."

"Or the next Tom Riddle," Ramos muttered darkly. "That was Voldemort's name, wasn't it?"

"What are you talking about?"

"Doesn't the kid's surname ring a bell with you guys? Savin…as in Ivan '_the_ _Impaler_' Savin, the kingpin of the Eastern European wizarding underworld? Looks like Commander Ironheart's daughter liked bad boys. She married the kingpin's heir. Mind you, I don't think she realised who Boris Savin was, but she must have known he was a bit of a shady character at least. Funny, ain't it? On one side there's Commander Ironheart, the good grandfather, and on the other one of the most evil wizards ever to walk the Earth. Some say he's even worse than Voldemort was, except he's not as big of a threat because he's got no desire to rule the world."

"Everyone has the potential to do evil," Ron said. "However, it isn't completely dependent on one's heritage. Grindelwald's grandson became a Ranger…" he added. He realised that Rudolf van Ketel's situation was in fact much like Nicolai's, with one grandfather at the light side end of the spectrum, and the other at the dark end. "And even though everyone vilified Salazar Slytherin, the founder of Slytherin House at Hogwarts, because so many dark wizards—including Voldemort—were sorted there, he wasn't really evil."

Ramos raised his eyebrows sceptically. "I may joke around a lot, but I'm not as stupid as I look. I did a lot of reading on Potter's exploits. May I remind you that Slytherin's parting gift nearly ate Potter for dinner? The man left a damned _basilisk_ at that school. I seriously doubt he left it there as a guardian. Face it, the whole 'Slytherin wasn't evil' story was a fable concocted by Dumbledore to unify the houses. Now, I'm not saying all Slytherins are therefore evil, but they're certainly more prone to it. It's in their character, which is exactly why they're sorted into that house. Yes, I'm well aware that there were Death Eaters from other houses, and I'm not saying Dumbledore was wrong either," Ramos continued, when he saw Hermione open her mouth in protest. "Making the Slytherins second class students or banishing them from Hogwarts altogether would have been a worse idea. It would have alienated those in Slytherin who weren't evil, driving them into Voldemort's camp by default. As for the Death Eater spawn like Malfoy…I suppose Dumbledore was thinking along the lines of keeping his enemy even closer. But don't try to sell the idea of Salazar Slytherin just being misunderstood to me. And—" Ramos paused and looked over Ron's shoulder. "Damn, I don't believe it! He actually got her attention…"

Ron turned around and saw Larsson talking to Vesta Gaal, the barmaid. She was smiling shyly and blushing slightly. Her shift had ended, and she was putting her cloak on. Then she hooked her arm through Larsson's and led him to the door, as he held up a hand with splayed fingers and mouthed '_five_'.

"That's got to be set up. He must've told her about the bet and offered to split the money with her."

"Is it so hard to believe that she actually fell for his charms? He isn't bad looking, you know!" Hermione said.

The flash of jealousy was upon Ron before he realised it. "What's that supposed to mean?" 

"Ron, the training regimen the people from the Martial Division follow means they're well toned…except for Captain Faust…"

"That's what you think. Captain Walrus has got serious muscle under that blubber of his," Ramos said.

"But he's still got blubber, doesn't he? My point is that Rolf's in good shape. Aside from that, he's intelligent and exudes self-confidence. Women like that sort of thing. I never said he was devastatingly handsome like Matt or Max or Commander Ironheart."

"Yeah, they have it all," Ramos said gloomily. "Don't worry, Weasley. Look at _me_. My ears are way too big and you can see almost straight up my nostrils in almost any condition. You're not that badly off in the looks department and you've got a pretty girlfriend. Guys like me don't even have to expect pretty girlfriends. Sure, Gavin looks like a little nerd and he still got Mayumi, but he's the exception to the rule." Then his expression brightened. "Thank the heavens for women like Lilia."

"What about Lilia?" Hermione asked slyly. "I heard you spent the night in her room—"

"Watching over her," Ramos interrupted. "I didn't trust her to be alone after she'd had so much to drink. We went to a bar to drown her sorrow after her adopted team lost."

"You took her to a Quidditch game?" Ron frowned.

"I've never met a woman who was so passionate about Quidditch. She was jumping up and down in the stands, cursing at their poor play in seven languages. It was embarrassing."

"I thought you _liked_ verbally abusive women."

"I do have my limits, Weasley. Anyway, since Detoxification Charms aren't my strong point, I decided to stay by her side until I was sure she'd be okay. I'm sure Galatea or Ginny could have done the charm easily, but neither of them was home. Only Clara and Nicolai, and Clara was about to leave for her shift and drop Nicolai off at home on the way."

"That's not what Clara told me. She said she heard Lilia make some funny sounds the morning after."

"Nothing gets rid of a hangover like a good foot massage," Ramos laughed. "Didn't I say I'm the foot master? And boy does that woman ever have sensitive feet. I made her tear her pillow apart! But unfortunately for you, I don't massage and tell…" He checked his watch. "I have to go. Have fun tonight!" he added with a wink.

Ron groaned and gave Hermione an exhasperated look. "_Now_ look what you've done. I'll have to deal with their comments all day tomorrow. Not that it'll bother me too much, but it'll be annoying nonetheless." Ron got up and paid the dour dwarf behind the bar, leaving him a small tip.

Holly the house-elf appeared, holding his and Hermione's cloaks.

"Thank you, Holly," Hermione smiled as she relieved the elf of her burden and handed Ron his cloak.

As they walked towards the nearest portal, it suddenly occurred to Ron that he hadn't seen a certain other Holly, namely Harry's daughter, for days. He'd never seen very much of her, but previously he'd still run into her a few times at the Citadel. "Hermione, what's Holly been up to? I haven't seen her lately, have you?"

"Oh, I forgot to tell you. I've been so busy helping Aberforth translate the scrolls that hold the information on you-know-what, I completely forgot…"

Ron nodded. Commander Nomvete had assigned Hermione to help Aberforth Dumbledore, who had been newly reinstated as a Ranger, with gaining information about the Periapt of Absolute Power. "How's the translation going?"

"We're getting better at translating the scrolls. It's still very tough, mind you. I wish we could borrow Nicolai for a week. He'd flash through the Draconian dictionary and grammar books and be fluent in days. Too bad the information we're trying to uncover is so sensitive."

"What about that Archidiaconus fellow in the portrait. The one who helped Aberforth with the ceremony?"

"The commanders specifically said that this information ought to remain inside the Citadel. We asked Magnus Ignatius if he'd be willing to move to the Citadel. He said he'd like to help, but it turns out that his portrait won't come off the wall. Doc, Bert and Wilson could probably get him off, but they're all on missions with higher priority."

If they were to believe Logos, this object was very dangerous. Finding out what it could do would be top priority. He knew Nomvete and Ironheart had based their decision on the assumption that there was a good chance that the enemy didn't even know they had the artefact, and the Rangers were spread thin enough as it was. The missions the Curse Breakers were currently on were also very important. But if it had been up to Ron, he would have given the Periapt priority status. He got a bad feeling whenever his thoughts strayed to it. 

"Anyway, Holly thought it would be best to stay out of Ginny's way for a while. She's staying in the Veela palace above the lake."

"The Veela? I thought they didn't like visitors?"

"They love Holly. It seems she can charm her way into anyone's heart." 

Ron smiled. She'd certainly charmed her way into his heart. She'd given Hermione a second chance at motherhood. "Hermione, I've been meaning to ask you…"

"Yes?"

"Now that you're completely healed, are we still in a hurry to have children? It completely slipped my mind. I was just so happy that you were healed…"

Hermione blushed. "I'm on birth control again…potion, since the charm won't stop the Weasley Legions. I reckoned we were no longer in a hurry. But if you still want to have them now—"

"We don't have to, if you don't want to. I suppose we could wait two or three years."

"I always thought twenty-five would be a nice age." Hermione smiled, and leaned in to kiss him.

*

Bracing his arms against the wall of the shower, Harry let the warm water cascade over his aching muscles. The Martial Division Lieutenants and Khan had dramatically stepped up the intensity of his training to help him compensate for the absence of his unique power, a result of Ginny's absence in his life.

Warm tears mingled with water that splashed on his face. She didn't love him anymore. His hand slid over his chest, searching for the ruined ring he'd taken to wearing on a chain. Every time he searched for it, he had the tiniest glimmer of hope that somehow the diamond had miraculously restored itself.

"Stop," he said, and the water stopped pouring out of the nozzle above him. The comparatively chilly air was a poignant mirror to the harsh reality reclaiming him as his fingers brushed the ragged remains of the diamond on the ring. In a flash of insight, he realised exactly what Lieutenant Cliff had meant when she talked about the Twin Flames' potential to hurt one another. It felt like half of him was missing.

Fifteen minutes later, he stood outside his quarters, unsure about where to go next. He didn't feel hungry and he wasn't supposed to meet his daughter for another three hours.

"Hi, Harry," Danielle Esklove, who had become his new next door neighbour after Matt had moved out, greeted him as she stepped out of her quarters.

"All right, Danielle?" he answered listlessly.

"What's up?"

He shrugged. "I realised I don't have anything to do."

"Holly?"

"I'm not supposed to meet her yet."

"Well, I'm going to help my sister Sarah. She's assisting Aberforth and Hermione. You could help out for the time being."

"I wouldn't know how. I can't read Draconian."

"You don't have to," Danielle said. "Sarah and I were going to search through the very old books, you know, the ones that haven't been added to the new data systems yet. If we're lucky, we might find a reference to the Periapt in a language other than Draconian."

"Why not," Harry sighed. The Citadel's library had translation monocles that instantly translated over three hundred languages, human and non-human, modern and extinct, to the reader's native language. However, Draconian had been extinct to all but a handful of old scholars long before the invention of these monocles, some seventy years before, and they hadn't been able to convince those scholars to lend their expertise. The scholars had thought the noble language should be reserved for those willing to put in long hours to learn the language. A pity those scholars were already dead. Otherwise Harry might have killed them for causing this problem. 

So he found himself carefully flipping pages in an old lore book written in Latin, and skimming them for information. He'd just worked his way through a section that dealt with all the rare, inborn gifts wizards could possess, like Parseltongue, Mind Reading and Metamorphosing. He'd also read about a handful of powers he hadn't known about, the most spectacular and obscure being the Phoenix Fire transformation, which seemed to increase a wizard's power exponentially, turning him into a super sorcerer.

Apparently Merlin had been the last known wizard to accomplish it, and it was a very rare occurrence indeed. Another wizard named Blaise, who had been Merlin's scribe and apprentice, had witnessed one such transformation and described the physical aspects of it. The sheer power had caused Merlin's hair to stand on end for the duration of the transformation. His irises had changed to a turquoise colour and the pupils had disappeared entirely. Lastly, he'd been surrounded by a stormy golden aura that looked like a translucent flame, hence the name of the transformation. A side note revealed Merlin's hunch that sustaining the transformation for too long would kill the transformed wizard, for he'd often felt about to be consumed.

"Find anything yet?" Hermione asked. 

Harry shook his head and flipped through the pages again, skimming for relevant passages until he reached a section about magical jewellery and gemstones. Deeming it likely that it would contain information about Bloodstones, he began reading the headings carefully. About two-thirds of the way through the section, one heading caught his eye, and he read the article. 

**__**

The Amulet of Absolute Power.

This Bloodstone, imbued with powers most sinister, was discovered in a nameless wizard's tomb in Jerusalem shortly prior to the death of Herod Agrippa. Though it was unclear exactly how ancient this stone is, scholars were able to speculate based on some scrolls found in the tomb. The name Rusalimum is mentioned several times on some of the scrolls. This suggests that the stone had already existed in the nineteenth century BC, yet mention of the stone's creation by the dark Angels suggest that it is much older than that, since those dark Angels had probably been the evil Black Draconians. 

The true powers of the stone were discovered much later when a Norman Mind Reader by the name of Zerbino happened across it. It is unclear whether the wizard himself had been evil, or whether the stone corrupted him. Yet the gift of the Mind Reader allowed him to unravel the secrets of the stone's morbid powers. It allows its master to assimilate other wizards and turn them into extensions of himself, adding their strength and skill, indeed their very life, to his own and shape their appearance in his image.

Zerbino shielded himself with the lives of those he had assimilated when an alliance of wizards and witches, the great Merlin among them, brought him down. The death toll was catastrophic. After the discovery that it seemed impossible to destroy the stone, it was released into Merlin's custody, who vowed to take it beyond anyone's reach. Where exactly he hid the stone is not known.

Periapt was another word for amulet, and it was a bloodstone. "Hermione, I think I found something."

***

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Author's Note: To the people who asked if I wrote the description of Gudrun's dress: You're very perceptive. I tried to write it but in the end Christine, my beautiful and talented beta re-wrote ninety percent of it.

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jadesfire: You get the first answer because I didn't reply your review of chapter 27. Hem, hem: Yeah Ironheart's been around. As for Nicolai, I've explained that that he knows how Mary feels about him, intellectually. :-) And though he _is_ maturing faster than regular children, but nine years is too early for any boy. Don't worry about the future story. I've recovered from my indignation.

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CatatonicReaction: If you magnify things enough, I suppose nothing would be a perfect sphere.

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Jake: You're right about preconceived notions and Ginny. Did you know some people are calling Ginny a Mary Sue i.e. too perfect all of the sudden? No, not in my review thread, I'm talking about Rowling's Ginny. How can a canon character possibly be a Mary Sue?

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SiriKat: Ah, thank you. That was just the reaction I was aiming for.

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Stefanie: Ah, so you realise the importance of reading the stories carefully. Take this chapter, for example. The whole foot-massage bit (aside from being an ode to Pulp Fiction) may seem totally pointless, but it will have a tie in with a subplot the third story.

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link76: Agreed, it would have been a good show. But I can accomplish the same thing off screen, which is why it wasn't a priority.

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SaBoTaGe3p3: Wow, I'd completely forgotten about the Riddle effect. But now that you mention it, it's a great point. Canon seems to contradict it in OoTP, though. Ginny seems well adjusted enough there. But you're right about JKR not telling us. Who knows, maybe Ginny just hides it really well and it will become an issue later.

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Jane Grey: :-) *points to author's note* As for the Mistress's dream, I didn't show all of it on screen. And she doesn't hate the man who taught her magic, she hates the people who killed him. (How exactly that happened will be revealed later on) She _avenged _him. She didn't exact revenge _upon _him. I'm glad you can understand Ginny now.

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Gogirl: That's okay. I'm actually quite flattered that my story made you react like that in the first place. At least you understand Ginny's action's a bit better now.

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nycgal: *sings* Where were you when the lights went out, in New York City…

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bane: Actually, you can take the prophecy at face value. Oh, did you find a beta yet?

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Jake: Be nice, she's seen the error of her ways.

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Foxfur: Hmmm…lasagne. Yeah, human-type mouths, I suppose that covers it. Galatea will make a few brief appearances in the next few chapters. Yes, Mary's surname had changed.

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Joyce2: Well, the story _is_ set in the Harry Potter universe. But I really embellished upon it a lot with artefacts that can block magic and such.

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Lord Dreadnault: I don't want reviews for the sake of having reviews. I want them for the contents.

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Lioness-07863: Not to worry, I'm already over that.

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LadySiri: We both know that Harry can't be the one who dies.

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Angel of the Flames: Hmmm, that would make you Angel of the Praises, then, not Angel of the Flames. ;-)

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theef: Update more often? I have a life, you know? It's hard enough to update this frequently. 'girl in the tower' you said? I'll give it a read. You're right, I can definitely improve with regards to the romance.

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Ginny1946: The pace will drastically quicken from now on. (Though there won't be any action yet.)

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Haley: Ginny's the only fish for Harry.

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Petals: I think I.Q. measurement systems vary, but for the ones I know about genius comes at 180. You're considered _gifted_ at 140, but that's not the same as genius or prodigy.

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jona: Hermlets and Ronlets…LOL.

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Casual Reader: It's good to be evil. ;-)


	30. Reflections

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Reflections

Chapter 30

The ringing of the little alarm clock on her nightstand rescued Ginny from her torturous dream of what could have been. At first, she'd had the dream every night after breaking up with Harry, but for the last week or so she'd been able to sleep a bit better. 

She'd almost regretted her decision a couple of times when she saw how miserable Harry was, but she was convinced that he'd see things her way in time…that they weren't meant to be a couple. For both their sakes, she hoped he'd see it sooner rather than later, for she'd be miserable as long as he was miserable.

Groggily, she pulled on her dressing gown and slipped her feet into her fluffy yellow slippers before stumbling down the stairs to the kitchen. The sound of someone crying stopped her from continuing her quest for breakfast. The sound came from the parlour and as she stepped through the doorway, she saw Gavin leaning on a narrow table set against the wall under a large hanging mirror. She thought he would've been at the Transit Dome to say goodbye to Mayumi.

A Japanese delegation, headed by the emperor himself, had arrived in Concordia on Imbolc. Now, eight days later, they were leaving again and taking their heir with them. The call of her ancestors had been too hard to ignore. Mayumi was leaving the Order of Illumination. 

The agreement had been reached a couple of days ago, _after_ Mayumi's conditions had been met. Part of the conditions for her return had been the complete absolution of Shinji and Yuriko for their helping the Order with Matsu. She'd also managed to nix Matsu's suicide sentence, though her sister didn't seem too happy about it. Ginny had a feeling she would rather have killed herself than live with her shame. 

As it was, she wasn't going back to Japan. She'd asked Commander Ironheart to grant her asylum until the expedition for the Mirror Realm set off in mid-November. She'd got the idea after reading Andy Chubb's recently published book about Pecos Bill's adventures in the Mirror Realm, and decided to seek her fortune in that realm and start with a clean slate. The old wizard himself had decided to return for good as well, since the changes in his native realm had proven too overwhelming for him. For her part, Ginny felt like joining them too. It almost hurt too much to be in Harry's presence, knowing that they could never be together. 

"Are you all right?" she asked, walking over to the table and easily throwing her arm around his shoulder. It felt odd doing so, since most men she knew were taller than she was.

"Not really. She was the one, and now she's gone. Someone like me can't marry a Japanese princess." He sniffed, mopping at his teary eyes. "I don't know what I'll do without her."

Ginny turned him around and pulled him into a hug. "It'll pass!"

"I doubt it. But I suppose I'll learn to live with it, though being apart from her will be hard," he sighed. "I can't believe you _chose_ to be apart from Harry."

Ginny pushed him away. "That's different," she said sharply.

"Yeah, you were even closer. Why are you doing this? Everyone can see you're both miserable." Gavin stepped in front of her to look her straight in the eyes. She'd charmed her uniform boots to add an inch and a half to her height, but without them she was barely an inch taller than Gavin, right at eye-level. She averted her gaze.

"It's for the best."

"I fail to see your logic. Everyone is miserable and you say it's for the best?" Gavin gave her a puzzled frown.

"Don't you see?" Ginny pleaded. "If he and I are to be together, I want—I _need_—to be the first one in his heart. Of course I would've shared that place with my children…_our_ children, but Holly isn't mine. Everything was so perfect until she turned up. Then it all fell apart. I know it's selfish and petty of me to think that, but I can't help it. I can't even explain it, I just know it's how I feel. And I could never have asked him to send Holly away just so we could be together. Knowing Harry, he might have actually done it, but I wouldn't have been able to live with myself. So I decided to back off. I'm sure the hurt will lessen over time. I know it doesn't sound like I'm making any sense, but—"

"You're making sense. I know how you feel," Gavin said sadly. "I never would've asked Mayumi to turn away her family for my sake either. For me, everything fell apart when I found out she was a princess. I knew it would only be a matter of time before they'd come to take her away form me."

Ginny felt a rush of gratitude towards Gavin for his understanding and hugged him tightly for a moment before releasing him. "Have you eaten?"

"I'm not really hungry," he said listlessly.

"Neither am I. But I force myself to eat anyway. There's no need to let the body suffer along with the heart, is there?" 

Gavin smiled. "Want to keep your friends off your back, do you?"

"If they see I'm losing weight, they'll be all over me. I just want to be left alone."

"That makes sense," he relented. "All right, I'll have a bowl of cereal."

While they were having breakfast, Ginny heard the front door open. 

"Gavin?" Lilia's soprano voice called. 

"In the kitchen," Gavin answered.

Moments later, Lilia Rosaria and George Ramos strolled into the kitchen, arm in arm. After their second date, the two had decided that a relationship in the traditional sense would lead to disaster. However, it was obvious that they were more than friends. Lilia had called it a _modern_ relationship. Of all people, it had been _Gudrun_ who'd cautioned the younger witch, saying that it would only be a matter of time before either partner would begin craving more than their relationship offered, and that one or both of them would be hurt in the process.

"Why weren't you at the Transit Dome?" Lilia asked Gavin.

"I already said my goodbyes."

"Really? When?"

"Earlier," Gavin replied tersely.

"But—"

"Excuse us," Ramos interrupted Lilia's line of questioning and pulled her out of the kitchen, brushing past Galatea as she came in.

The tall witch bid them a good morning and began rummaging around in the kitchen, fixing herself a rather large breakfast. She had recently entered her third trimester, and the bulge in her belly was becoming more and more prominent.

Then Ramos and Lilia returned and sat down opposite Ginny and Gavin. Lilia glanced at Gavin again but held her tongue. Ramos must have told her to let him be. After a few minutes of work, Galatea loaded her breakfast onto a tray and carried it out of the kitchen.

"Jeez, didn't your mother breastfeed you?" Lilia snapped at Ramos, looking extremely annoyed and more than a little jealous after Galatea had left. Ramos had been staring at Galatea almost the entire time while she'd been fixing her breakfast. Her belly wasn't the only thing that had become more prominent, and Ramos had clearly noticed. Even though it hadn't been obvious due to her height, Galatea had already been respectably endowed before her pregnancy. But she'd grown almost two cup-sizes since then.

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"You know damn well what!"

"Pregnant women fascinate me."

"Bull! That witch you were staring at last week wasn't pregnant! _I'm_ not good enough for you?"

Ramos looked scandalised. "_What_ witch?" 

"The one outside the Quidditch shop!"

"There was a witch?"

"Don't tell me you didn't seen her!"

"I remember seeing the sale on broom maintenance kits and the new _Relampago_."

Lilia suddenly looked uncertain. "You mean you weren't…?"

"I may have been looking in someone's direction," Ramos said diplomatically. "But I wasn't looking at her."

"Oh…" Lilia blushed. "Uh, would you like anything to eat?"

"I'm fine, thanks," Ramos said coldly, looking offended.

"Well, I'd, better go change," Lilia said awkwardly and left the kitchen.

Ramos slumped in his chair and released a big breath.

Gavin looked up from his cereal and smiled. "The witch, was she pretty?"

"I don't know what you're talking about."

Ginny rolled her eyes. She knew all about the so-called 'man killer' questions. According to men, women could sometimes ask a question to which a yes or no answer wouldn't do. If they were to answer no, the women wouldn't believe them. And if they answered yes, it would be even worse. Examples of these questions were: 'Do I look fat in this dress? Is my butt too big?' or 'Is she prettier than me?' She'd overheard Bill and Charlie talk about it when she was nine. Apparently the trick was to answer evasively and, in case of the last question, to have a good story ready and pretend to be offended by the suggestion that they'd been looking at anyone else. "It's all right. I grew up with lots of brothers. I know all your secrets. Lilia may have believed it because she only has sisters, but I can see right through you. Don't worry, I won't tell Lilia!" she added with a grin, when she saw Ramos blanch. Then she rose and left the kitchen to go upstairs. She had to start at the Citadel in less then an hour for a very special project.

"Okay, so there _was_ a witch. I don't know what was wrong with me. I had to do my best not to stare. She must've been part-Veela. I mean, _damn_ she was…" Ramos' hushed voice faded away quickly as the distance increased and new voices entered her range of hearing. "…care how I feel!" Lilia's grim voice came from Gudrun's room. "I know we're not exclusive or anything, and I don't care who he looks at when we're not together, but…" The voice was muffled as Ginny closed the door to her own room. She shook her head. It looked like Gudrun's prediction was coming true.

*

Hermione looked at the tiny, disc-shaped crystal shard in front of her. She, Ginny, Aberforth and Commander Ironheart had developed it. A similar one with different functions had been implanted in Mayumi's skull on the surface of the brain, to protect her from the Imperius Curse and warn the Rangers if anyone tried to use any mind-affecting spell or potion on her. It had been a necessary procedure, since Mayumi knew a lot of sensitive information about the Order, and it had still been a better option than selective Memory Charms that would have left gaping holes in her memory.

The one in front of her however, had a different purpose. If they'd done everything right, this one would suppress the parasitic personality inside Ranger Quist's mind indefinitely. That way they could take him out of his unconscious state and let him function normally until a permanent cure could be found.

"Good morning!" Aberforth said brightly upon entering the special ward, accompanied by Ginny.

"Morning, Hermione," Ginny said. "When do we begin?"

"As soon as Lieutenant Gaal and Captain Sharif get here," Hermione answered. The two senior Rangers would be taking over Quist's care and keep an eye on developments, provided that their plan worked, of course. Hermione and Aberforth would be put back in charge of finding ways to destroy the Periapt of Absolute Power, or to find a way to remove it from Wolfe, if he managed to bond with it.

As they deciphered the manuscripts, they'd discovered that the stone could literally merge with its possessor. Merlin had been able to remove it because of his special power, which had allowed him to distinguish Zerbino from the assimilated wizards. But an alternative had to be found, since there were no super sorcerers like Merlin there to help them. 

The manuscripts had also revealed that Merlin had taken the stone into the Mirror Realm, but that an Archidiaconus had gone looking for the stone after Merlin had returned, hoping to harness the stone's power for the family. Unfortunately, he'd found it. For the next couple of centuries, the Archidiaconus family had done their best to marry as many known descendants from Mind Readers as possible. They had literally tried to breed the ability into the family, so they'd have someone who could use the stone. 

Hermione shook her head. Luckily, the attempts had been abandoned and long-forgotten when Durandana Duvallier, Commander Ironheart's great-grandmother and a granddaughter of an Archidiaconus from the main branch of the family, manifested the inborn mind reading ability.

She was brought back to the present situation when Gaal and Sharif arrived. Quist hovered behind them, strapped to a floating stretcher.

"Good morning, everyone!" Sharif said. "Hermione, I see you got the aural analysers." He nodded to the small table that held a few artefacts they'd use in the procedure. "Right then, let's start!"

Sharif grabbed a pair of goggles that would allow him to see the results of his spells within Quist's body. Gaal had a pair that was specialised for artificing. He'd be checking if the shard worked properly. Aberforth put on the goggles that could detect the minutest shifts in magical auras of both living things and inanimate objects better than any spell could. Ginny and Hermione would be monitoring his vitals and brainwave activity, ready to jump in and help Sharif if Quist's body were to reject the implant.

Quist was transferred to a special reclining chair. Straps appeared around his legs and arms to restrict his movement. Then Captain Sharif took position behind his head with the tiny crystal shard. He waved his wand while muttering an incantation for an Insertion Charm. He touched the shard with his wand, turning it into a bead of light. Then he pressed his wand against Quist's temple, twisting it this way and that and manoeuvring the shard into position inside Quist's skull. When that had been accomplished, Gaal took Sharif's place and worked to activate the shard.

The telemetry Hermione's station was getting from the chair showed an immediate increase in blood pressure and heart rate, as well as a drastic change in brainwave activity. Another mirror screen, which had been keyed to receive telemetry from the aural analysers, showed how Quist's aura was changing slowly. The filthy purple that indicated possession was slowly lightening. The screen spilt in half to show the telemetry from the goggles Sharif had now donned. It was identical to Aberforth's, so at least they knew the analysers were working properly.

The following twenty minutes or so were tense as the purple aura gradually cleared up until only the barest trace was visible. When it became clear that it wouldn't clear up any more, the decision to bring Quist back to consciousness was made. Captain Sharif injected him with a powerful restorative, and Hermione saw its effects as it spread through Quist's body. Moments later, the Texan's eyes opened.

He squinted as he looked around, trying to limit the stinging to his eyes caused by the light he was no longer used to. "Is it gone?" he asked with a raspy voice.

"No," Captain Sharif said earnestly. "But there's a good chance that we can keep it from interfering with your mind."

"Will it ever go away?"

"We're working on it," Gaal said.

Quist's eyes came to rest on Ginny. "How long have I been out? I don't know her. Is she Gravenstein's sister? Who's the old guy?"

Sharif laughed. "No, but she certainly could have been. You've been out for about ten months, and her name is Ginny Weasley. The _old guy_ is Aberforth Dumbledore."

Quist frowned and muttered to himself before a look of recognition appeared on his groggy face. "Right, the girl Potter dreamt about. Pity he went evil like that. Did you get him?"

"That was an impostor," Sharif laughed. "The real Harry came back and destroyed him. It's a long story."

"Ah, right. So it's okay between you two now?" Quist asked Ginny.

"It will be," Ginny replied. Hermione noticed that she suddenly looked haunted. In a way, she _was_ haunted. Lots of situations would confront her with the past, whether she wanted to face them or not. 

"A _lot_ has happened," Sharif said. "I'll tell you all about it later. Right now I need you to be patient, because we'd like to run a series of tests to make sure that the P.P.I.—Parasitic Personality Inhibitor—works properly. It'll take a couple of hours, but if we're satisfied in the end, you're basically free to roam and eventually resume you duties, if you want to."

"Some of the tests will be highly unpleasant," Gaal warned.

"Anything will be a welcome change to ten months of oblivion," Quist said sardonically.

*

"They should've left me in that coma! Man, did some of those tests hurt. But I'm glad to see you guys all the same."

"Ten months of sleep just made you soft, Bill," Khan teased. "Not to worry. We'll whip you back into shape in no time."

"You're lucky you're a wizard," Harry said. "That physical conditioning potion you took fixed you up overnight. It would've taken ages for a Muggle to recover."

"So when can we expect to see you back in training?" Faust asked.

"They still want to run some more tests to make sure this crystal thingy in my head can really keep the parasitic personality trapped. And after that, there are some people I need to talk to first," Quist said. "Ten months is a long time to put your life on hold. Wolfe was only out for about half that long. Where is he, by the way?"

Harry didn't have to say anything and neither did the others. Their gloomy expressions said it all.

"No…not Wolfe!" Quist groaned. "When? How?"

Harry wasn't sure if they should tell Quist exactly what had happened. Many other Rangers besides Galatea were still unaware of the truth. He decided he'd leave the decision up to Captain Faust.

"October…Azkaban. He went back in time to save Harry's life, and Ginny's," the captain said. "But he broke a lot of rules in the process. The Dementors sucked out his soul when they recognised him."

"I don't believe it!" Quist erupted. "Whatever he may have done, he did for a good cause. He shouldn't have been punished. What was Ironheart thinking?"

"Wasn't here," Khan grumbled. "Anyway, there was little he could've done. But at least Aberforth Dumbledore fixed Nomvete's skewed perception and interpretation of the code."

"That won't bring him back."

"Unfortunately, we can't undo all the evil we have done," Faust sighed.

"I know that as well as anyone in here," Quist said morosely. "How…how is Padma? God, if I'd thought there would have been any other way to warn you about my possession, I would've done so. But that hardly makes it right. I need to apologise to her. I really liked her, you know. I…" He stopped when his voice grew too rough with emotion.

Padma…Harry had nearly forgotten about her. He didn't know how well she was coping with what Quist had done to her. Apparently she was stable enough to have a roommate, and Perse hadn't reported anything out of the ordinary about Padma.

"She might not be ready to see you. It was a terrible experience for her," Faust said.

"What about a letter?"

"That would be safer." Harry nodded.

"So, Potter…what exactly happened to you anyway? You disappeared in India, and then what? Captain Sharif told me the evil you wasn't really you?"

Harry then recounted the story again. He didn't mind going into details, since he hadn't told the story in a long time. It actually helped him remember some things that he'd forgotten. He decided to tell Quist about Holly as well, thinking that it'd only be a matter of time anyway before Quist would find out on his own.

After he was done, Quist looked appropriately impressed. "Pecos Bill…I don't believe it, he's still alive after all these years. I was named after him because he's my ancestor, you know? Not that it's special or anything. My great-great-great grandma was his ninth wife, and he married lots of times and had lots of kids. In Texas, New Mexico, Oklahoma and Kansas, there isn't a pureblood or half-blood native to the area who isn't a descendant of his."

"I believe he visited your great-grandmother when he was promoting his book in the United States." Faust nodded. "She's one of his last surviving grandchildren."

"Yeah, a hundred and thirty-one years old, and she isn't showing any signs of quitting," Quist said fondly. "I can't wait to read that book."

Harry was very curious himself. According to what Chubb had told him in a letter a few months ago, he'd only seen the Immortals' Circle. It was an area roughly the size of France, which happened to be the most dangerous place in the Mirror Realm because mortal magic didn't work properly there, and because of the temporal vortexes. Outside the circle, there were countless civilisations of magical creatures, and magic seemed to work almost normally.

"Sorry to be the one to break up the visit, but Harry needs to start his training," Khan said seriously.

Harry sighed. He'd learnt a thing or two from Merlin's memory, but with Khan and Riyadi's help, he'd refined it immensely. Even so, he still had a long way to go before he'd be good enough to face Wolfe. Khan had always said that Wolfe was much better than he'd ever let on in training, as evidenced by the mere fact that he was still alive when Harry went back for him in India. Surviving that long in unfavourable conditions demanded superb skill. Khan had even speculated that Wolfe might have defeated Skaras if those caves hadn't been so narrow and unfamiliar to Wolfe. If they'd been out on the surface, it would've made Apparating much easier, giving Wolfe more favourable possibilities to choose from.

"Later, then," Quist nodded as Harry and Khan left the ward to go to the training hall.

"I wasn't planning on going to the training hall today," Khan said out of the blue. "You haven't been progressing quickly enough, and Aceng and I feel we might have to take a shortcut."

"What?" Harry asked, incredulous and a bit insulted. "I've been working really hard at this. How fast do you and Lieutenant Riyadi expect me to learn things anyway?"

"Oh, that's not what I meant," Khan said apologetically. "You've been doing as well as can be expected…better even. The problem is that we might not have enough time to teach you more advanced fighting techniques the traditional way. We'd like to take you to a reflecting master so you can gain the necessary knowledge in an immersion pool."

Harry had heard about immersion pools and reflecting masters, but he'd never seen any. These wizards explored the many feats of magic that could be accomplished with mirrors, be it directly or indirectly. The immersion pool worked by literally immersing a person in the relevant subject matter, which consisted of the thoughts and experiences of experts on the subject, accelerating its mastery. The process had been described like bathing in a pensieve full of instructional memories and absorbing the knowledge. Unfortunately, there were downsides as well. "Isn't that dangerous?"

"Weak minds have been known to collapse," Khan nodded. "That isn't something you need to worry about, of course, but we are aware that certain recent developments in your life may have left you more vulnerable. The decision, therefore, is up to you."

Harry grimaced. Khan had been referring to Ginny, of course. "Will the damage be irreversible if one's mind collapses?"

"I've been told it isn't." 

Harry made his decision. "I'll take my chances. If I don't master this stuff in time, I'll be hurt for sure when I face off with the dark general. And I doubt I'd survive that."

"Are you sure?"

"Positive."

"All right. Then we're going down to the maintenance bay. I've got a Portkey ready."

Harry frowned. "Just like that? Won't the reflection master need time to gather all the necessary thoughts? And what does a reflection master know about fighting?"

Khan shook his head and smiled. "Already done. Captain Faust, Aceng and I have taken turns interviewing several martial arts experts and collecting the necessary data. The Kung Fu people weren't too thrilled because Kung Fu is all about devotion. They didn't like the fact that you'd learn it via a short cut. But when I told them the knowledge would fade after a while and that it was for a really good cause, they chose to help us out."

"What good will this do if it fades after a while?"

"Don't worry. It'll last for about a year. That's plenty of time for us to teach it to you more adequately. And in the meantime, you'll already have the necessary skill."

"Teach me how? Won't I already know everything?"

"Actually, the reflection master told me he can lock away the knowledge inside your mind and out of your immediate reach, to be activated only by thinking a specific code-thought. That way it won't interfere with your proper training."

"Handy…" Harry said.

Just then, Gudrun rounded the corner at the intersection. She'd come from the medical wing and was beaming. When she reached Harry and Kahn, she spontaneously reached over and hugged both men in turn.

"All right, Gudrun?" Harry asked, immediately realising that it was probably a stupid question, since Gudrun's expression was one of pure delight.

"Everything's great! I just came back from a check up with Serafina. I'm four weeks pregnant! I can't believe it! I thought we'd missed the opportunity because they'd worked Matt and I so hard when the time was right. We had to be very creative with scheduling our meetings. It must've happened when…" Gudrun trailed off, grinning sheepishly. 

"Four weeks, eh?" Kahn grinned. "Well, if it's a boy, you can name him Boreas."

"You know?" Gudrun gasped.

"Everybody who talks to Serafina regularly knows how you and Matt disappeared into the _Boreas_ for fifteen minutes when you should have been fixing it. Everyone drew the same conclusion when Rachel Esklove turned up in the mess hall and told Serafina that you sent her away for twenty minutes."

"Rachel!" Gudrun smiled ruefully. "Telling everyone…I'll have to get her back for that."

"Or you can thank for her for turning a blind eye by naming the kid Rachel if it's a girl," Khan grinned.

"Rachel…that could work. But I'm not so sure about Boreas." Gudrun laughed. "I was thinking something less classical. Oh, that Portkey you needed is ready. It's on the second shelf to your right when you walk into the Portkey room. I gave it a green neon label so you can't miss it. Will you be using it soon?"

"We're headed there right now," Khan said. 

"Good luck," Gudrun smiled. "Now, I've got to tell Matt…and don't tell anyone else about this. I only wanted to tell Matt now and wait for the first trimester to be over before I told anyone else, but I couldn't help myself! Oh, what am I talking about…Serafina's probably spreading the word right now."

"Then you'd better hurry, if _you_ want to be the one to tell your husband," Khan said.

Gudrun followed his advice and set off at a fast pace.

A slight feeling of anxiety came over Harry as they neared the maintenance bay. He didn't want the added stress of bumping into Ginny at that moment. Fortunately he didn't, and he reached the Portkey storage room without incident. 

Khan excused himself for a moment, telling Harry that he'd be right back, and left Harry alone for a minute or two before returning with a pouch. "We'll need these," he said.

Their Portkey took them to a room filled with all kinds of magical mirrors. Most of them were complete, although there were several in various stages of creation. A chubby young witch with a very long blonde hair worn in a braid brushed passed them, ignoring them as if they weren't even there.

"As I live and breathe! All right, Harry?" an excited voice behind them said.

Harry turned around and recognised the face, though he couldn't immediately place the young man. He'd filled out quite a bit since Harry had last seen him. "Dennis Creevey?"

"That's right! Welcome to Paris."

"Paris? That's where we are?"

"Location, location, location. That's what Master Karoli always says. I hope I'll become a reflection master someday. Only the best make it past reflection adept. I'm a novice apprentice."

"I heard you wanted to become an Auror," Harry said, remembering what Hermione had told him. "Didn't it work out?"

"I was doing well enough, but I decided it wasn't my thing. This is much more interesting."

"What about her?" Harry nodded towards the blonde witch. "Is she an apprentice too?"

"Yeah, but not of mirror magic. Her name's Michele Delacour…Gabrielle's cousin on her dad's side. She's an artist, paints magical portraits. We share the premises with Gabrielle's mum, who is the master painter."

"Dennis?" a rather deep but distinctly female voice boomed. It came from the stairs that lead down into a cellar of some kind.

"Yes, Miss Gravenstein, our visitors have arrived."

"Well, get them downstairs, boy!" the woman said. Harry noticed she had a heavy German accent and wondered if she was related to Heidi. This was further reinforced when they arrived downstairs and saw the woman. Though her facial features were a bit less delicate, she shared the same unusual red hair and brown eye combination with Heidi, and—Harry realised with another pang to his heart—Ginny. The main difference was that this woman was as tall as Matt, although she wasn't thin and awkward-looking like the women that height tended to be. She was normally proportioned, suggesting a dash of giant blood, though it had to be less than Helga's since she was within the human height range.

"Hello Ilse," Khan greeted the woman. "This is Harry Potter. Harry, this is Ilse Gravenstein, junior reflecting adept and Heidi's sister."

"_Half_-sister," Ilse corrected. She gestured to a darkened corner, where an even larger woman was sitting in a rocking chair, knitting a sweater by hand while two more sweaters were being knitted by hovering needles. Though she was sitting down, Harry estimated her to be roughly Helga's size. "My mother."

The woman muttered a greeting in German but otherwise didn't acknowledge their presence.

"She is senior adept, but this is her day off. She likes to knit," Ilse continued. "I shall take you to the master now, yes?"

"That's all right! I know the way," Khan said.

"See you later, Harry!" Dennis said cheerfully as Khan led Harry deeper into the cellar. They came upon a large mirror about eight feet tall and four feet wide.

"It's like any magical barrier. He's expecting you, so you should be able to step right through."

Harry nodded. But not wanting to crash into an unyielding surface, he placed his hand against the mirror first. He was satisfied when it slipped right through the surface, and he followed with the rest of his body. On the other side there was a narrow spiralling stairwell that led them down even further. The walls were not lined with torches. Instead, magical mirrors were bolted to the ceiling, acting like skylights. Harry could even see clouds floating past inside them.

The reflection master could very well have been an older version of Snape, though his nose was even more beak-like and his greasy hair was liberally streaked with grey. He also had a respectably long grey goatee, separated into two thick braids. 

"Ah, you have arrived. Good. We will proceed." No introductions or pleasantries. He simply pointed to the pool, which was about ten feet across, lined with polished steel plates that were pieced together to form a slightly faceted mirror. Next to the pool was a screen. "Behind the screen there is a special garment you must wear inside the pool. Remove your clothing and put it on."

Once behind the screen, Harry took off his uniform and underwear and stepped into a silver bodysuit. It seemed a little loose at first, but it quickly began shrinking to fit him snugly…_very_ snugly, revealing the details of his musculature and…other things. He imagined he looked like a trapeze artist, or one of those weird Muggle fruitcakes who danced in cages at some of those night clubs. When he looked into the mirror on the inside of his screen to see how ridiculous he looked, however, he only saw his hands. He could still see his body when he looked down, but in the mirror it was invisible. 

"Hey Harry, are you done yet?"

"I look like a fairy!" Harry complained as he stepped from behind the screen.

"I assure you the suit's properties are of a functional nature," the master said. "Style or lack thereof has nothing to do with it." He flicked his wand and something that looked like an emergency stretcher made out of aluminium foil came floating out of the corner of the chamber. 

"For your peace of mind, I will first explain how the immersion pool works," he continued. "You will lie in the pool. As you can see, it is only three feet at its deepest. That clear jelly-like fluid you see is a potion that conducts the thoughts and memories through the pool and allows you to absorb them. Not only does it do _that_, but it also allows you to breathe through your skin instead of your mouth and nose, and conditions your body to cope with and execute the knowledge of martial arts instructions, for example."

Then he showed Harry the pouch Khan had brought along and took out something that looked like a diamond. "These are crystalline memories. You have seen the liquefied kind in pensieves. I will put this into a slot on the back of that mirror—" he gestured to a large umbrella-shaped mirror hanging on the ceiling on their right "—which will hang over the pool once you are in, and it will release the memories into the pool. The mirrors in the pool and the large one above it will reflect the subject material towards you again and again until everything has been absorbed. I have about two thousand hours worth of instruction in these crystals. The pool accelerates learning one hundred-fold for the average person, which means twenty hours in the pool in total. The average mind needs a rest after about four hours, but that is variable. I have had clients go on for as long as six hours. Any questions?"

Harry shook his head.

"Then lie on the stretcher. It will lower you into the pool. You will feel weightless, and you will float at a depth of eighteen inches."

Harry barely felt a thing as he was lowered into the goo, which was only slightly cooler than his body temperature. It was an odd sensation. He tried to breathe experimentally; felt like he was breathing, yet he knew no air was coming though his nose or mouth. The goo didn't impede his vision too much either, and he could clearly see the large mirror being lowered over him. Seconds after the mirror had taken up its position, Harry was blinded by a flash of white light reflecting off of it. When he opened his eyes again, he didn't see the mirror, but instead saw flashes of thoughts and memories. It seemed incomprehensible at first, but after a few moments it all made sense to him and he began to absorb the information He felt like he was having dozens of epiphanies a minute. If only normal learning was that easy. 

He wasn't sure how much time had passed when the mirror over him was finally removed. It seemed like he'd only been floating in there for five minutes, but his sudden hunger suggested he'd been in there much longer. The sliver stretcher slipped into the fluid and slid under him. As he broke the surface, he suddenly felt the urge to breathe again, but the fluid clogged his airways. A single heave and cough was enough to clear his mouth, and he blew the remaining fluid out of each nostril by pinching the other shut.

"Congratulations, Harry!" Khan's voice sounded a bit distorted, and Harry realised that some of the goo still had to be clogging his ears. "You broke a record. You were in there for ten hours straight! How do you feel?"

Harry briefly closed his eyes. The information swirled through his head. Then he opened his eyes and beamed. "I know Kung Fu!"

***

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Gogirl: The fight between Harry and Wolfe will happen in this fic. And again I say that it is not a red herring. Only one will emerge from the battle. I know it is hard to believe me with my track record, but I'm telling you the truth.

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bane: I agree, ;-) The Periapt/Amulet of Absolute Power does sound a tad corny. Unlike Tolkien however, I don't have the time (nor skill) to invent my own language and thus give the Periapt a more exotic name. As for you writing efforts, keep trying. I saw your thread on GT. The advice given there was sound. For the answer to your second review, see my answer to Gogirl's review. 

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BigDaddy753: Hey, Ironheart couldn't help himself. The instincts were too strong.

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Lord Dreadnault: Truthfully, I haven't decided if Harry manages to pull off the PF transformation. And don't worry about Ginny. She isn't completely beyond reason. As for your second e-mail, I know an ex-publisher. He told me that the story, (with alterations to turn it into an original fic) would have potential, but that I still need lots of work on my technique and lots of material prior to writing a novel. (I only have a skeleton plot and make things up as I go along from there…hardly optimal for writing.) But I still have plenty of time to improve. 

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nycgal: Whew, four hours is a long march.

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LadySiri: Anatomically means with regards to anatomy. I read your story, and I'm taking my time writing an analysis about it. (With your permission, I'll send you an elaborate e-mail about it) I also read the reviews they left you. They're _not _flames, except for one telling you that your type of story has been done before. That one was the closest to a flame. Phantom Reviewer and Anolinde were actually trying to help you.

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jona: Yeah, the narrative in that scene was rather heartrending, eh? When will you finish DoR?

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Jake: I think Ginny's behaviour in OoTP is exactly what Ron meant in CoS, about never shutting up normally.

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Angel of the Flames: Hmmm, did you come up with that quote? 

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Foxfur: 1) Though this won't make the screen, in my notes Matt is a distant relative of Merlin's, but not a descendant, since in my universe Merlin never had any children. 2) Your theory on the development of the story is way off too. ;-) The Amulet subplot will be resolved in this story. 3) LOL, no, what's happening between Nicolai and Mary is love. Even though Nicolai entered puberty early, he's still too young to manifest his incubus powers, and Mary's too young to be affected by them. So that's not where the attraction comes from. The fact that he saved her life _did_ influence her behaviour, and she _does_ trust Nicolai deeply. As for the swimming lessons, she'd be comfortable if they start in the shallows, right?

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Calen: Are you just baiting me or are you really too stupid to understand the justification for Ginny's behaviour?

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Jane Grey: I agree that the Pulp Fiction conversation and this chapter in general don't add a whole lot to the plot right away, but they will become relevant in the third story. :-)

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CatatonicReaction: What's a particle accelerator?

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Casual Reader: Yes, Nicolai will be more important in the third story.

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Lioness-07863: No, the similarity is purely coincidental. I didn't take it from the mummy.

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Stefanie: They would go in November and return with the full eclipse in December. But that was December 2002, and the epilogue of EaL and MW up until chapter 28 were still 2001.

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Blue Roses: Am I crazy? I've wondered about that many times. But the reason why that comment about my writing only for reviews stung so much was because it was written by a loyal reader and reviewer. If it had been an anonymous person I would have shrugged it off.

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Petals: I'm planning a total of 36 chapters, epilogue included.


	31. Contra Mundum

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Contra Mundum

Chapter 31

"I don't think that in all my time as a Ranger I've ever witnessed a complete recall of all the Rangers. All the ships are in, and even the longer term operatives have been recalled from their duties," Gudrun said.

The unrest had begun to brew in the week leading up to the spring equinox. All of a sudden more and more top officials from several governments of magic world-wide had started to discredit the Order of Illumination, not unlike what the British Ministry of Magic had done to those who claimed that Voldemort had returned. The basis for their allegations had been the revelation of the mission in which the Rangers had ended up freeing Princess Matsu.

Even though this wasn't Ginny's area of expertise or interest, it was clear that it hadn't been the emperor who had turned on them, simply because he would have foreseen that the current situation would ensue. The anti-Ranger sentiments had the imperial house struggling to retain their influence, since the more ambitious lords of the clans were now claiming that Mayumi was merely the Order of Illumination's puppet.

As to _why_ so many countries had suddenly turned on them, Ginny didn't know. But she suspected that the Intel Rangers knew more than she did and that it would be the main topic of the gathering they were about to attend. She'd only been in the amphitheatre once, when she and the rest of her group of trainees had been gathered for the first time.

"Matt knows more than he's letting on, too." Gudrun frowned. "He's been very tense lately."

"He can't rise to the occasion anymore?" Lilia asked with a quasi-malevolent chuckle.

Gudrun rolled her eyes. "The way you manage to sneak sex into every conversation is so juvenile. But if you _must _know, it's quite the contrary. Matt is one of those men who perform even better when they're under stress. In fact I think he bleeds of some of the tension that way," she said with a smile.

"I hate you!" Lilia pouted. "Bragging about it in front of us less fortunate girls."

"There is such a concept as _too much of a good thing_, you know?" Gudrun countered. "What makes you think I'm always in the mood?"

"And she _dares_ to complain about it too!" Lilia whined.

Gudrun snorted. "Anyway, he'd better enjoy it while he can. There's a good chance the doctor will order me to take it a bit easier later on. My second trimester will start next week. Where does the time go?" she sighed.

Upon arrival in the amphitheatre Ginny saw they were among the last to arrive. Nearly everyone was there already. Only Commander Ironheart hadn't arrived yet and Galatea was another notable absence.

"Looks like we're grouped by division today, girls. Are you sitting with us noble healers or with the grease monkeys?" Lilia asked Ginny. 

"I've been putting two-thirds of my hours in with the Artificing division. I think I'll request a permanent transfer soon," Ginny said. She'd decided that she could be more productive with the artificers. Whether or not her choice would be approved was another matter. Galatea, now very pregnant, was already working fewer hours, and she'd continue working fewer hours for a while after the birth, which was about a month away.

"Fine. Be that way, traitor!" Lilia grinned and threw a playful punch at her shoulder.

"Honestly, Captain Sharif and Captain Yee are sitting next to each other, so we'll still be right next to you anyway!" Ginny retorted good-naturedly. The captains had arrayed themselves in a certain order on the lowermost row of the semicircle of seats, and the Rangers in their divisions spread out behind them. Surveying the semicircle while searching for a spot to sit, it occurred to Ginny that the captains had just sat down at random. Captain Faust and Captain Kovalenko sat on opposite ends to make room for their three lieutenants directly behind them and due to the size of their divisions in general. 

The Martial and Intelligence divisions were each nearly as large as the other four divisions put together, and their ranks swept up into the stands, enveloping the other four divisions and linking up at the back in the persons of Ron, Gavin, Matt and Harry. She was pleasantly surprised when her stomach didn't react as violently as it used to at the sight of him.

"C'mon, Rachel saved our seats," Gudrun said.

Ginny saw the Rachel Esklove was indeed waving them over and pointing to a pair of seats on either side of her, so Ginny and Gudrun made their way up a narrow set of steps that would take them as close to those seats as possible. After stepping on some toes, they reached their spots.

Rachel slid over to one of the seats she'd been holding so Gudrun didn't have to pass in front of her too.

"Ah, nice and toasty," Gudrun purred as she wriggled her bottom on the recently occupied seat. "Rachel, I think I'll promote you to my personal seat warmer from now on. Sure, warming charms are okay, but there's no substitute for real body-heat."

Lilia, who had indeed ended up only a few seats away on the row in front of them turned in her seat and looked up. "Yeah, she isn't used to cold seats anymore…spends too much time in her husband's lap!"

"Mreow! Someone's envious," Serafina said from beside Lilia. 

"Do you blame me?" Lilia asked innocently as she turned to the older witch.

"Hardly," Serafina sighed. "Gudrun is a very lucky woman."

"I'm sure we're not the only ones who think so. I think every unattached woman in the Order has fantasies about Matt…and even some of the attached ones like Serafina here," Lilia teased. "Believe me, I've asked around."

"Not _every_ unattached woman," Rachel suddenly said.

"You mean to tell me that you never ever even had a teensy weenie little fantasy about that big, blond Adonis-like hunk of a man?"

"Boy, it's a good thing he can't hear you," Gudrun muttered. "He'd be insufferable for a whole week."

Rachel smiled at Gudrun's comment and turned to Lilia. "I didn't say that. At first he was way too obnoxious, but later, I thought he was kind of cute when he was sad. Of course, Gudrun took it upon herself to console him and never gave the rest of us a chance, did she? But I'm talking about Jana Soldo of the Diplomatic Division and Margaret Liaw."

"Good one, Rachel." Gudrun smirked. "Everyone knows Margaret's the biggest lesbian in the world."

"Ah, that may be true, but she isn't _unattached_, and I said every unattached woman." Lilia grinned. "Margaret has a steady girlfriend. And Jana may only have had girlfriends lately but she herself told me she likes men equally well."

Ginny glanced at a point a few rows down to where the all-female Diplomatic division, often referred to as 'the politicians,' were sitting. The Croatian witch was in deep conversation with Claire Cruz. Both looked careworn, and Lieutenant Bertoli and Captain Sanzotti didn't look much better either. They had been the first ones to be confronted with the anti-Ranger sentiments. Ginny suddenly remembered how Heidi had burst out in tears of frustration only a few days ago. Heidi…she wasn't sitting there! Since the division consisted of only five witches including Heidi, Ginny ought to have noticed her absence earlier.

"Well, I see you've certainly done your gossipy homework, Lilia. Careful, Serafina…it looks like you're about to be replaced as gossip queen," Gudrun said.

"I was planning to retire anyway," Serafina shrugged.

"Where's Heidi?" Ginny asked. 

"Been wondering that myself," Lilia said. "Galatea isn't here either."

"I know Galatea was called to Ironheart's office about an hour ago," Serafina said. "I had just finished examining her. If that little boy inside her keeps growing like that she'll have a very tough delivery with those narrow hips of hers."

"She's lucky she isn't a Muggle. We'll have that kid out of there in no time at all," Lilia said confidently.

Ginny smiled as she remembered Hannah's delivery and Percy's broken fingers. Her smile faded when she realised Wolfe wouldn't be at Galatea's delivery. She sighed, tuned out the conversation around her and chose a random spot on the far wall to stare at as she lost herself in thoughts, wondering if she'd ever have children with anyone other than Harry. She managed to conjure up a small, likely list of people who might have been worthy candidates under different circumstances. 

Though she'd never really entertained any fantasies about him because she'd always been too preoccupied with Harry, Matt was one of these candidates. He was incredibly attractive, like Lilia had said. The thing that appealed to her the most were his eyes, those feline eyes with the same mesmerising quality Harry's deep emerald ones possessed. He was also courageous, never even thinking twice about leaping into action if his friends and loved ones were in trouble…like Harry. Of course, the fact that he hada wife—who happened to be one of Ginny's best friends—and a daughter, disqualified him as a realistic possibility.

Next there was Max Wolfe. Also devastatingly handsome, though in a way different from Matt, who was the charming type while Wolfe was the classic 'mysterious' type. Despite his gruff demeanour, Max had proven himself capable of acts of great love, self-sacrifice and friendship… just like Harry…and he'd paid a very high price on her behalf. Ginny cringed at the thought. They really _were_ Soul Brothers in the respect. She suppressed a rueful smile when she realised that it was something all the men she liked had in common. The urge to sacrifice themselves for the common good. But of course, Wolfe wouldn't do either. Even if they managed to capture him alive and subdue the parasitic personality inside him, assuming he had one, he still belonged to Galatea, another of Ginny's better friends.

The third candidate was Gavin Carey. Though he wasn't ugly like Gregory Goyle, Marcus Flint or Quasimodo, he wasn't particularly handsome. He had a mild but irreversible case of ptosis, caused by having been struck in the eye with a nasty curse when Death Eaters attacked his family in his childhood. Aside from the slight drooping of his right eye-lid, she'd describe him as plain and unremarkable with the freckles on his pale face matching the thatch of rust-coloured hair on his head. And like Harry's hair, it never lay flat, making her wonder whether the Careys and the Potters had it from a common source. He was also very short for a man, but remembering his uncle, Cyrus Carey, who had taught her healing magic after she'd left Hogwarts, she knew his family was known for their short statures. She also remembered her mum telling her about the time she had briefly dated Cyrus, and how kissing him had actually been kind of nice in retrospect, because he didn't have to bend down awkwardly to kiss her, being only a little taller than she was. However, since Ginny had still grown a surprising number of inches after her fourth year she was a bit taller than Gavin was. Not that it would really bother her to be taller than a boyfriend. It was true that she couldn't see herself end up with a man as ugly as _Goyle_, but she didn't attach _that_ much importance to looks, or how couples looked together. Forcing herself to be objective, Ginny could acknowledge that Harry, while better looking than Gavin, was no heartthrob either.

No, it was definitely the inside that counted in the end, and Gavin was very smart, sweet, every bit as brave as Harry, Wolfe and Matt when it mattered, _and_ he'd turned out to be very wise and understanding. In the unlikely event that she'd ever get over Harry enough to consider getting involved with another man, it could very well be Gavin…or could it? Ginny shook her head, knowing that she'd been deluding herself. She'd experienced perfection with Harry and she'd _never_ get over him. She'd probably remain completely and utterly celibate for the rest of her life.

A nudge in the ribs from Gudrun drew her out of her musings. She saw Commander Ironheart and an unfamiliar witch with dark brown hair enter the amphitheatre, followed closely by Heidi and Galatea who were both looking rather distraught and were supporting each other. Ironheart gestured for both of them, and the strange woman, to sit next to the captains on the front row.

Then Ironheart stepped onto the dais in front of the semicircle. Ginny knew that standing on a certain rune would magnify the occupant's voice, and Commander Ironheart's voice soon rang through the amphitheatre. "Rangers, I'll cut to the chase. Our situation is dire. As all of us know, Anastasiou has recently begun a campaign to discredit the Order of Illumination and turn the worldwide wizarding community against us. We've recently discovered exactly how he managed to mobilise all those high-placed government officials to oppose us. It would seem that Tetsuo Yamato has succeeded in synthesising a drug that enables normal wizards to briefly become Mind Readers without the aid of Legilimency…Mind Readers like myself. As all of us know, too many politicians gather skeletons in the closet as time passes, and too many of them develop a reluctance to part with the power granted by their stations. As such, they would do anything to retain that power. Yes, with an army of temporary Mind Readers, Anastasiou uncovered many of these skeletons and used them as blackmail material.

"A handful—regrettably, _only a handful_—of wizards and witches, the ones with some decency left, refused to co-operate despite the threat of blackmail and contacted us instead, which is how we know what Anastasiou has done. Three of them were abducted before we could get to them, and by the time they turned up again, they'd had their memories altered and were no good to us."

Ginny _had_ heard about a couple of surprising retirement announcements by certain top Ministry of Magic officials from around the world. Now she knew why.

"Yesterday evening, another one was found dead not far from his mountain cabin in the Austrian Alps. Killed by a rockslide, or so they would have us believe. They conveniently forgot to tell the public about the fact that this wizard was the 1959 European Apparition Champion for both distance and accuracy. Apparating out of the way should have been easy for him," Ironheart said grimly.

Heidi had begun to sob when Commander Ironheart said that. A wave of nausea swept over Ginny as she realised that Commander Ironheart had been talking about Heidi's father. This was followed by a wave of fear for Percy's life.

"Only two countries still give us complete support. Anastasiou failed to exert influence over these governments because in both cases there were too few people with significant exploitable dark secrets left. I'm talking about the Ministries of Magic in Britain and India. However, this stalemate won't last. Once Anastasiou tightens his grip on the other governments further, he'll devise means to break the resistance of the British and Indian governments. I don't deem it likely that he'll attack directly since that would undermine his propaganda. He'll probably resort to means like trade embargoes, diminishing the populace's quality of life and thus turn them against the Ministries, leaving them no choice but to denounce us as well. He's very patient that way. A waiting game is more advantageous.

"He's been one step ahead of us the whole time after launching his smear campaign. He's anticipated our responses and passed them on to his collaborators so they could come up with ways to twist our words to seem suspicious. The most recent allegation against us suggested that we ourselves caused trouble behind the scenes only to show up and clean up our mess, creating the illusion of our usefulness. This morning Anastasiou orchestrated a raid in Portugal. The raiders pretended to be Rangers, and they were led by Wolfe. He was conveniently unmasked in the fight, after which the ersatz Rangers retreated, repelled by the '_mighty_' Portuguese Magical Law Enforcement squads."

Ginny gasped. That explained why Galatea was so upset. Ironheart had been forced to tell her lest she'd learned about it some other way.

"Damn it!" a young witch next to Serafina erupted. It was Vania Goumas, a trainee for the Medical division. There were expressions of outrage all over the amphitheatre, but she looked positively livid. Ginny knew this was possibly due to the fact that the Greek witch hated Anastasiou with a passion. Her family had opposed the Greek vampire for centuries. "We also have some knowledge of the secrets of the politicians on that bloodsucker's leash. Why not pass it to their local opponents to discredit them?"

Ironheart shook his head sadly. "Didn't I tell you that Anastasiou was always one step ahead of us? Doing that would backfire. It would only convince those opponents, people who still have _some_ faith in us, that Anastasiou's collaborators have been right all along. And even if they don't, and actually use that information, the effect would be devastating. It would tear their nations apart. Ministries all over the world would collapse, making it so much easier for Anastasiou to pick up the pieces. Not only that, but the wizarding world would become exposed with no Ministries to keep it hidden. There are too many of us these days to rely on separate wizarding families arranging for their own concealment effectively, not to mention the rampage the Muggle-baiters would go on with no Ministry to keep them in check. No, for the moment passive reactions are the only option.

"And now the worst news of all." Ironheart's shoulders sagged wearily. "We've been given a week to leave Concordia. The Lord Mayor warned me about the possibility of this happening about a week ago, so I've had some time to start looking for an alternative base. Ranger Kelly offered Caer Sidi as a base of operations"—Gudrun stirred next to Ginny uneasily— "given the fact that it already has some powerful wards in place, and after some research we've discovered that it is possible to put the whole island under the Fidelius Charm. No Secret Keeper has been chosen yet, but the common consensus is that it ought to be someone who will never leave the base."

Rachel let out a low whistle. "An entire island under the Fidelius, wow."

Ginny agreed. She knew the current Citadel was also protected by the same charm, but to place a roughly fifteen-square-mile island under the Fidelius? Apparently size didn't matter. 

"You said that as if the Lord Mayor is on our side," Tarana Oliseh, who had given Ginny a great portion of her instruction on Cruiser maintenance, said disdainfully.

"He is," Ironheart says seriously. "But he needs deniability. Actually, it's better for us if he has it. We can ill afford to lose him as our ally just to soothe our egos. If he publicly takes our side he's finished, because the people of Concordia are growing ever more afraid of us. The raid in Portugal was the final straw. He can't protect us any longer."

"Sir," Ramos rose from his seat in the third row, behind Lieutenant Poliakoff. He respectfully waited for Ironheart to acknowledge him and continued after a nod from the commander. "Since most of the world is against us, I suppose I'm right to assume that the bulk of our funds have been cut off?"

"Our _known_ private assets that have previously provided part of our funds have also been frozen. Thankfully we still have a handful that can't be traced back to us, so those should be safe."

"Yes sir…" Ramos hesitated, unsure of how the phrase his next question.

"I know you're not in this for the money." Ironheart nodded. "You're worried about your relatives who depend on your pay. Again, we have Mr Kelly to thank. He sold off all his father's assets for several billion Galleons." Gudrun stirred in her seat again. "That should cover the compensation if something happens to you. But I'm afraid your regular pay must be discontinued," Ironheart continued, and turned towards the rest of the crowd. "If anyone has a problem with this, you're free to leave. Society will probably think you saw the light and accept you back."

"I think I speak for all of us when I say that the mere suggestion is insulting," a voice from behind Ginny said. She knew the distinctive voice to be Doc's. Murmurs of assent rose from the gathered crowd.

"Besides, what good will that gold do our families if Anastasiou wins?" Quist yelled from the fourth row on the Martial division's side, piercing the murmurs.

Ironheart gave them a shaky smile and wiped his sleeve across his eyes. "Thank you," he said with a shaky voice. "Whichever way this may go, I want you to know that I'm very proud of you all." He took a steadying breath. "Anyone who wishes to try to make special arrangements for the safety of their relatives can see Commander Nomvete afterwards.

"Now, the way I see it, the only way to beat Anastasiou would be to find him and to hit him with everything we've got. With their blackmailer and backer out of the way, Anastasiou's collaborators will fold. If we offer them a way out, say, by allowing them to claim they were under the Imperius, they'd gladly take it. I'm not saying we'd let them get away with it, but we'd put the bulk of them in the preservation box to deal with them individually, at a later time and in a more subtle manner. Unfortunately, I have no idea how to find Anastasiou, and he's certainly not going to be careless now that he's so close to victory. If any of you have ideas, you can come to see me in my office."

Ironheart stepped down and made room for Commander Nomvete, who began telling them about the move out of the Citadel and into Caer Sidi. They were all going to be very busy enlarging some already present caverns beneath the castle. Even so, things were going to be cramped, and the luxury of everyone having their own quarters would be lost. With the exception of the commanders and the captains, it was back to the old dormitories, males and females separate, unless the couples were formally engaged or better.

Ramos and Wong simultaneously proposed to Lilia and Lieutenant Li on the spot, drawing amused laughter from the rest of the Rangers. 

"Sorry boys, you're too late," Nomvete said stiffly, though there was a twinkle of amusement in her eyes. "Okay people, that's it for today. We'll start packing things for transport tomorrow. The team that will be responsible for preparing Caer Sidi will be selected later, depending on how quickly we find a suitable secret keeper for the Fidelius Charm. Are there any questions?"

"Some of us own homes in Concordia," Hermione began.

"Ah, thank you for reminding me," Nomvete said. "I'm afraid putting them up for sale is the only option, and only after we're already gone. We don't want to give away our exact time of departure. If you see another way out, please share it with me," she added, when she saw Hermione's unhappy look. "Any other questions?"

A general negative murmur answered the question and the meeting ended.

Ginny and Gudrun remained in their seats, waiting for the crowd to clear. Matt, Ron, Harry and Gavin were among the first to descend, but they didn't leave the amphitheatre. Instead, they immediately went over the Heidi and Galatea. Ginny only felt sympathy for Heidi when she saw the Austrian witch cry into Harry's shoulder, and not a shred of jealously permeated her feelings. She knew how it felt to have her father murdered, and she hugged Heidi right after Harry had released her. Her sympathy towards Heidi temporarily drowned out any unease she might otherwise have felt when being only a few feet away from Harry.

"I'm so sorry," she whispered, and Heidi barely had the time to nod before Gudrun pulled her into a hug. 

Then Galatea caught Ginny's attention. Harry and Matt were both stammering apologies with guilty faces, but Galatea didn't harbour any resentment. Then again, being an empath she could probably feel their remorse, and so put on an understanding face just to make it stop. But Ginny had never expected her to smile and take Harry's hand, placing it on her belly.

"Hey, he kicked!" Harry exclaimed.

"He's a fighter, just like his father. It will be all right. I know it will. Max will come back to me."

Harry swallowed. "But the prophecy—"

"—Is wrong. Both of you will come back," Galatea said with an expression that told Ginny she wouldn't believe otherwise.

Harry pulled his hand out of Galatea's grasp as if it had begun to burn him. "Right…" He clenched his fists and marched out of the amphitheatre.

"You don't approve, do you?" Ginny heard Matt ask Gudrun.

"It's all your gold, so you never needed my approval. And you have plenty of good reasons to donate your wealth to the Order. Besides, I _do_ approve."

"Then why do you look so angry?" Matt asked uncertainly.

"I'm your _wife_, you idiot." Gudrun shook her head at Matt's denseness. "I'm angry because you should have told me about it."

"Actually, that would be my fault because he was under my orders not to tell anyone about it," Ironheart said.

Still preoccupied with Harry's obvious distress, Ginny followed the direction Harry had taken outside the amphitheatre and found him leaning with his back against the wall, staring at the banner with the Order of Illumination's emblem on it. He turned his head to look when he heard her footsteps, and was visibly startled when he saw it was she.

He straightened and reflexively ran his hand through his perpetually messy black hair. "Ginny, is there anything I can do for you?"

*

He immediately regretted the businesslike tone he'd used. But just seeing her standing there with her fiery tresses cascading down her back and that odd look in her bright, brown eyes completely scrambled his thoughts and actions. What was it about that look anyway? It strongly reminded him of the look she used to give him back when they were at Hogwarts. But that was impossible, wasn't it? She didn't love him anymore, did she?

"You looked upset. I wanted to know if you're okay?" she said softly.

"Do you want the sugar-coated version or do you want it right between the eyes?"

"I'll leave that up to you."

Harry swallowed away the lump in his throat. "I'm trapped in a no-win situation. If Wolfe kills me, I'll leave lots of people at the mercy of a really powerful enemy. If I kill him, I'll have to come back and face Galatea and her son. Have you had any moment where you felt like you'd be better off dead?"

"Do you want the sugar-coated version or do you want it right between the eyes?" she asked evenly. "Harry, we all end up in certain situations we'd rather not be in. I suppose you know that better than anyone because you were born into such a situation."

"We all were."

Ginny sighed. "You're right. But it all revolved around you…and it still does. I don't think there is anything I can say about it. But when the time comes, please don't let those feelings cloud your judgement. God, I can't believe I'm doing this to you…as if you could use the added pressure. Harry…"

He knew what she was about to ask him. He understood, but it didn't make things easier. He really hated his life, hated being the axis around which everything seemed to revolve. "I hate this. Everyone expects me to be this perfect hero. But I'm not perfect. If I were, you'd still love me…"

"I do love you."

"…But I won't get angry over it, not anymore. I know it has to be done. At least I have good reason to, because of you and your family, and of course Holly and—" Waitaminute. Had she just said… "What?"

"I'll always love you. I have no choice. We're connected that way." Tears were streaming down her cheeks as she said those words, those very confusing words. But how could she? The diamond, the hardest substance in the world, had shattered.

"You don't have to say it to make me feel better," he whispered morosely.

"Are you a Mind Reader?"

"What?"

"I think you understood me. It was a very simple question. Are you a Mind Reader?"

"You know I'm not," he said, feeling really stupid and even more confused. 

"Then you don't know what I'm thinking, _do you_?" she said, locking her eyes with his and jabbing him in the chest with two fingers for emphasis.

"I guess not. But the diamond…you said—"

She broke their eye contact and dropped her hand to rub his arm soothingly. "You asked me to look you in the eye and tell you that I didn't love you anymore. I couldn't do that, so I answered evasively. I'll always love you, but we can't be…" Her hand had moved from his arm to his chest. "You're more muscular than I remember you…" Her voice trailed off as the words registered in both of their minds, and Harry felt his stomach doing flip-flops over how easy it had seemed for her to say it. She _did_ love him! But before he could say anything, Ginny shook her head violently and a blush flooded across her cheeks as she repeated, "But we can't be—"

"Together?" Harry asked huskily. Her touch was maddening and he longed to drag her off to his room and show her exactly how wrong she was, sequestering her there like a caveman until she changed her mind.

"Harry, I'm sorry…" Ginny stepped away from him quickly. She'd probably deduced what he'd been thinking through expression and body language. 

"Sorry for what? For telling me the truth?" He stepped towards her, closing the distance she'd created.

"Harry, please don't do this," she pleaded. "I'm sorry I made things more difficult for you just now."

"You didn't make things more difficult. You made things very clear." He cupped her face with his hands and brushed her tears away with his thumbs.

"Please, don't…" she mumbled weakly.

"Then why aren't you putting up much of a fight?" he asked as he leaned in ever closer. He could feel her warm breath against his skin. It smelled of chocolate. 

"Because I expect you to respect my wishes." 

That sentence hit him like a bucket of ice-cold water, except that the water would have been much more pleasant. He'd nearly ruined things again. But at least he had something to cling to now. "I respect you."

"All right, that's good," Ginny said.

"And I love you."

"I know."

"We love each other."

"Yes."

"So forgive me if I don't understand why you're doing this."

"What I said at Caer Sidi…the part about Holly, was true. _That's_ why."

He remembered. Ginny was afraid that he loved Holly more than he loved her. "Ginny, are you a Mind Reader?"

"What?"

He grinned. Despite the gravity of the situation he was taking perverse pleasure in this. "I think you understood me. It was a very simple question. _Are you a Mind Reader?_"

Ginny rolled her eyes. "All right, I'll play along. No, I'm not a Mind Reader."

"So how can you possibly know if I place you second to Holly?"

"Because that's in the heart, not the mind."

Harry blinked. She'd weaselled out of that one rather handily. "Okay, but you're no Magical Empath like Galatea either, so my point stands."

"You said Holly was the best thing that ever happened to you."

"And if you'd been in Hermione's position, you would have agreed with me. Ginny, if Captain Sharif rather than Holly had healed Hermione like that, I would have hugged and kissed _him_ and said that _he_ was the best thing that ever happened to me!" Harry said in exasperation.

"This isn't funny," Ginny said gloomily.

"No, it isn't," Harry agreed. "You're basing your entire decision on what I told Holly at that precise point in time, in an emotional moment after she gave my two best friends the opportunity to have children together?"

"Oh, am I?" Ginny growled. Her brown eyes were ablaze with anger.

"If I'm wrong, I'd like you to tell me why," Harry pleaded. "When you told me you didn't love me, hurt more than anything I've ever felt. It was worse than the pain I felt at the deaths of all my friends. If you value our friendship—and I know you do—I want to know why you're not willing to give us a chance."

"It…it isn't me," Ginny said finally. "Ever since I've known you, it's like the universe is trying to give me a hint…give _us_ a hint, don't you understand? Harry and Ginny equals disaster."

Taking everything they had been through into account, Harry could see why she'd think that, even though he would interpret things differently. But he wasn't her. He wanted to tell her that she was wrong and that she was imagining things, but he bit his tongue. Telling her that now might undo everything he'd accomplished so far. He'd just have to let time change her mind, and do everything in his power to change her perception of the universe. "Thank you…for finally telling me what you've been thinking"—and here his mouth twitched in a rueful grin—"although I think we both know that I don't agree with it."

Ginny looked relieved, though Harry noted that the relief didn't quite seem to reach her eyes. She stepped back, as if to leave. "Thank you, Harry. Well…good night."

"Night," Harry replied. "Are you going home?"

Ginny nodded.

"Could you wait in the Entrance Hall for a moment? Concordia isn't the friendliest of places right now. I'd feel better if you, Heidi and Galatea go back together. Maybe _I_ should take you three home."

"Thanks Harry, but I'm sure Galatea, Heidi and I will be fine by ourselves," she smiled. "I'll wait for them in the amphitheatre. See you tomorrow, I guess."

Harry returned her smile and turned on his heel. As depressing as the Order's predicament was, he was in high spirits. There was a bounce in his step as he strode away and he resisted the urge to whistle. Ginny still loved him. That was something he could build on.

***

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Gogirl: I'm not sure about anime references, but there will be some references to other works. The whole stories already packed with 'em, so why stop now? Yeah, the battle will be in this story, and I'm not going to give you any bull this time. :-)

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D.Torres: If you like that, you'll love the ending to the next chapter.

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Lord Dreadnault: As you can see, you've been a bit hasty about your judgement of Ginny. She isn't completely beyond reason. Hoom, hum, so many hasty folk reading the story.

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walter34: Gee, you act as if have the female Rangers are pregnant. ;-)

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GinnyPotter5: Your name looks familiar. Have you reviewed EaL once? Should you review again, if it isn't too much bother, try and add a short list of any problems you might have with the story so I can compare it to my other feedback.

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nycgal: Ah, you're talking about the unfortunate incident between Padma and Quist. Yeah, they were sort of together.

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][cewind: Cool way to form a capital letter.

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Philip: LOL, this isn't the Blue Lagoon, pal!

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LadySiri: Oh, in that case you should put that bit of info in the summary. It'll give people the choice not to read it. Anyway, I'm still working on that e-mail. I want to make it worthy of your saving it on a diskette to use it as future reference.

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Lioness-07863: The next chapter will have Wolfe in it again.

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Jake: Actually, I may need one more chapter. The story isn't done yet. Usually I'm about two chapters ahead of posting.

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bane: Dude, there are lots of TV and movie referenced throughout the story. 

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lill_one: Not too complicated, I hope?

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CatatonicReaction: Ah, well physics was never my strong suit. Thanks for the info.

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Calen: Manners, manners! I know I gave another reviewer a pretty good lashing with similar words. (which was wrong. I should have controlled my temper) Unlike you, however, I had something that came a bit closer a good reason to be upset.

You said you _do _understand why Ginny is doing it but that she's wrong? And how did you manage to do that? Are you clairvoyant? Because I didn't reveal to core of the matter until this chapter, though the more discerning of my readers caught the subtle nuances. Back to the point, the fact that you condemned Ginny merely proves that you _don't_ understand. What Ginny is doing often happens in real life. She's shielding herself from ever being hurt like that again, and her mind is looking for ways to rationalise it. In light of Harry's past, that isn't too hard either.

Now, you called Harry a dog. That's interesting. So you'd rather have Harry ruin his chances of happiness just feed his ego on the short term? Not only that, but you want him to dump a girl who is in psychological distress, for which he is partly responsible?

In case you haven't noticed, in canon, Rowling is setting Harry up to transcend that stage in his psychological evolution. (Otherwise he won't be able to cope with what needs to be done.) At this point in time in my fic, Harry's character is simply mature enough to Ginny's wellbeing above his own ego and do everything in his power to save his relationship, instead of abandoning it, like you would have him do. You're still welcome to disagree despite my explanation, of course.

As for calling you stupid, I think Foxfur had the right idea. Stupid is a multifunctional word. Granted, it isn't the most flattering of words, but your choice of words in the earlier reviews wasn't very proper either. It wasn't meant as an insult, yet your perception of it as such made it one. There's nothing I can do about the way _you_ perceive things. So basically, you insulted yourself by giving the word a negative charge.

Taking everything into account, my answer was actually rather polite, even though I kindly asked you not to use that sort of insulting language again in your reviews. That asterisk didn't change anything. It still perverted the essence of the review, which is what it's all about.

On to the contents of your second review; Of course you can voice what you want to happen in the fic, as long as you realise that it is futile, which, given the way you phrase your reviews, I'm not entirely sure you do. Either way, the manner in which you write your reviews is very annoying. You may speculate on what you think is going to happen, though. There _are_ others who also make 'suggestions', yet they obviously don't mean it, and/or know that it won't change anything.

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Terra: No blood, no report. Let it go. 

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Melanie: Don't worry about it.

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Stefanie: I'm glad I'm making the world a nicer place for you. ^-^

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Foxfur: I guess this chapter fulfilled some of your expectations.

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Casual Reader: He just might.

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Blue Moon2: I wasn't insulting him. He did that well enough without me.

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Chelli Potter: A new face, welcome. Thanks for trusting my judgement.

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angel-fire8789: Depends what you mean by back together.

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Siri Kat: Patience, grasshopper.

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	32. The Second Coming

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The Second Coming

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Turning and turning in the widening gyre

The falcon cannot hear the falconer;

Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold;

Mere anarchy is loosed upon the world, --**W.B. Yeats**

Chapter 32

No one in the room knew exactly why he'd been summoned, but all the members of the organisation with some importance were there. Among them were Yamato, Rheinhart, and the more senior vampires. Their feelings ranged from curiosity to impatience. The humans, in particular, felt that they had better things to do. 

Anastasiou was angry. The anger poured off him in waves, and it was easy for Draco to ride the emotional outburst back into Anastasiou's mind. Something had happened. He could still hear the cheering barks of the Dark Trolls echo through the vampire's mind. _Maximus_, _Maximus_, _Maximus_…

Fed up with the Dark Trolls' aversion to following anyone's orders but the Mistress's and their leader's—the biggest, foulest, and regrettably, smartest of the Dark Trolls—Maximus had decided to earn himself the right to order them around. To Draco's knowledge, the only way to become the leader of the Dark Trolls was to best the current leader in a fight to the death. The Mistress hadn't done that, but Draco knew why they regarded her as a leader anyway. Somehow—he could only guess because he hadn't been able to pry into her mind when she was awake—some of the Dark Troll magic flowed through her as well. And that was why, in addition to her vast power, they regarded her as one of their leaders.

Killing a Dark Troll was hard, but not impossible. Tests had shown that a Dark Troll's armour could repel _any_ curse, so one would have to hit the creature with a Killing Curse where the thick metal armour was at its _thinnest_, or in any gaps where it was completely absent. The Trolls were extremely fast by any standards, so that this, by itself, was easier said than done. However, no human had ever attempted to take control of the Dark Trolls by challenging their leader to combat, since the wizard challenger wouldn't be allowed to use his or her wand. Enchanted weapons were allowed, since the troll leader himself wielded them, but no wands. 

Maximus had faced him with neither, and even so the fight hadn't even lasted a minute. Most of the time Maximus' blurred form had darted around the arena, until he leapt onto the Dark Troll and punched, with his _fist_, through the thick patch of armour that covered the troll's heart, though its hide and into its body. He ripped the heart out and showed it to the bemused troll before he keeled over. Draco wasn't sure whether or not he'd imagined it, but he could have sworn he'd seen the heart beat one last time outside the troll's body. That wizarding martial art was very effective, and Draco knew he had to assimilate the knowledge for himself. It would undoubtedly help him out of a few tight spots.

He caught a glimpse of a Dark Troll crossing in front of the open door. The fact that the trolls now bowed to Maximus and saluted him as he swept past them in the hallways infuriated Anastasiou, as did the fact that the Mistress now seemed to be Maximus' concubine. If Draco hadn't known she was a Mudblood, that would have bothered him as well. As it was, he was trying to forget that he'd ever soiled himself by touching her. 

She was now following Maximus around like a puppy dog. While Anastasiou couldn't understand why, Draco _did_ know the reason for her behaviour. It was simply in her nature; she wasn't a vicious witch with a goddess complex. While she _had_ behaved that way early on, it was clear that it had been an act. The only reason she'd wiped out the Muggle villages was because the villagers had stabbed her teacher to death in his sleep after drugging his ale. And her transformations had been the results of experiments designed to work out how she could bring him back. But Draco knew she was deluding herself. Her teacher's spirit had moved on and there was no way to bring him back. 

His thoughts strayed back to Maximus' defeat of the troll captain. Yes, it was obvious that Wolfe had always held back his full power, and Maximus had shown them all how great that power really was when unleashed. It rivalled and possibly even _surpassed_ Voldemort's power, Draco was sure of that. The more foolish Death Eaters had always believed Voldemort to be more powerful than Dumbledore, but early on Draco had seen the folly in their thinking and admitted to himself that Voldemort's edge had come from his willingness to use the powerful Dark Arts, and his many transformations. On the other hand, Dumbledore had foolishly refused to do the same, putting him at a disadvantage in a head to head fight.

But Maximus was strong…stronger than either of them. Draco had seen it reflected in the blazing aura of whitish light that Maximus had maintained for the full duration of the fight, ten times longer than he'd seen Dumbledore or Voldemort hold similar auras. Draco smirked. That power would be put to good use later..._Draco's_ use. In the end, Maximus would be assimilated as well.

"What are you all happy about?" Anastasiou barked as he rose from his seat at the head of the table.

"I'm just smiling for you, since you seem to have forgotten how," Draco said, as he rose from his seat and began to pace about. "Honestly, it wasn't as if you ever had a chance with her. She needs live meat." 

Anastasiou's claws gouged deep furrows in the table as Draco taunted the vampire, but he wasn't afraid. The meld with the bloodstone had left him with considerably greater powers. He still hadn't attuned himself to the stone completely, and he wasn't as powerful as Maximus just yet, but he knew he could easily take the middle-aged vampire.

"Come on, you've got the Order of Illumination with their backs against the wall. Doesn't that make you happy? World domination is within your grasp. If you don't do anything foolish, it will be yours."

Anastasiou's fury abated somewhat as Draco reminded him of his success. World domination was indeed within Anastasiou's grasp, and to give credit where credit was due, Draco was impressed with the vampire's scheming abilities. It was a pity that he could only assimilate other wizards. The vampire's patience and insight that came with centuries of existence would have been a valuable addition to his own skills.

"Yes, the world will be mine!" Anastasiou hissed.

And as soon as that happened, Draco would assimilate every wizard in the organisation and take it over.

"The Rangers will not be able to hide in Caer Sidi for long. I will turn the world against them and they will be hunted as I have been hunted for so long," Anastasiou continued gleefully. "The ones they swore to protect will hunt them!"

Draco half-expected von Brandenburg to begin lavishing praise on Anastasiou, but instead he heard Maximus' voice. "Spoken like a true weakling."

Maximus stood at the entrance to the chamber, flanked by two Dark Trolls. He imperiously marched in, and his guard followed a few steps behind him, but remained in the doorway as Maximus walked up to Anastasiou. Draco slowly backed to the edge of the chambers. This was going to be interesting.

"I am hardly weak!" Anastasiou said. "Weaklings don't build empires like mine."

"Underground empires forged by deception and trickery hardly qualify for the word. You tricked others into following you and respecting you. Therefore, you don't deserve it," Maximus said disdainfully. "You never fought your enemies directly, out of fear for your existence. That makes you a coward, and cowards have no business wielding power. Power is not for the weak."

"The type of strength you're talking about is irrelevant," Anastasiou growled. "Others have tried and failed to dominate by brute force. I _learned_ from their mistakes. Not something you'd understand, since your creator obviously didn't focus on your intelligence."

"You were afraid your prey would band against you."

"That's what happened in the past, and I've learned from past mistakes others made."

"Fear is for the weak. If you can't crush your enemy, even if they've formed an alliance against you, you do not deserve to rule. It would only be a matter of time before you were defeated in some other way."

Anastasiou gave Maximus a mocking smile. "And how exactly would that happen, with all of my enemies out of the way?"

"You should have paid closer attention to the past," Maximus shot back. "Those like you were often destroyed by those they'd considered their allies…also snivelling connivers. It seems like the universe has a sense of humour after all."

"Are you challenging me, then?" Anastasiou growled dangerously, no doubt hoping to intimidate him.

Draco fought to keep a straight face as Maximus merely raised an eyebrow at Anastasiou's tone of voice. Like Draco, he was too powerful to be intimidated by Anastasiou. He probably wouldn't even need his wand to defeat the vampire. "Yes, and by doing so, I am showing more courtesy than your eventual betrayers would."

Draco suddenly felt a great sense of confusion and fear, but it wasn't from Anastasiou. The vampire was only outraged. No, it was coming from Yamato. The Japanese wizard's face was impassive, but as his mind was in turmoil, his thoughts jumped out at Draco nonetheless. Maximus wasn't supposed to behave the way he was behaving. Yamato hadn't created him that way. 

Since this parasitic personality had been meant to take over a powerful host, Yamato had decided to keep the possibility for betrayal to a minimum by limiting the personality's ability for independent actions and thoughts for anything beyond the daily routines the human body had to go through to survive. Aside from that, Maximus could only react, like he'd done when disciplining Draco in the Caer Sidi vault. Yamato had also conditioned the parasite to be completely loyal to him alone, since he'd eventually be used against Anastasiou. But not without Yamato's explicit orders, and that was what was happening now.

"Yamato, you treacherous little slant! Call off your pet!"

Maximus laughed. "He can't call me off. I am acting of my own accord. If he hadn't created me to be loyal to him, I would kill him too. But unfortunately, I cannot overcome certain aspects of my creation."

The panic within Yamato increased, and Draco could discern a feeling of smugness emanating from Maximus, accompanied by some thoughts. But it wasn't Maximus…it was Wolfe, curled up in the back of their collective consciousness, and Draco could immediately tell what had happened As the parasite took over his body, Wolfe had corrupted the parasite in turn. He'd been able to change the parasite's conditioning to a certain extent, and add to it. Before Draco could discern anything else, the door into Wolfe and Maximus' minds slammed shut. Wolfe had felt his intrusion and had thrown him out.

Draco turned his attention back to Anastasiou, who was beginning to panic. "The others won't let you get away with it."

"What makes you think they're loyal to you?" Maximus sneered. "You've been treating them like you would your ghouls. They'll be happy to see you gone. And if your little organisation doesn't survive your demise, so be it. I don't need co-conspirators on the path I've chosen to take."

"And what path may that be?" Yamato interrupted shrilly. "You won't do anything unless I tell you to."

Maximus chuckled and shook his head. "No, I'm obliged to follow your direct orders, not live my life exactly the way to tell me to. There's a difference."

"_Order_ him to kill himself," Anastasiou said quickly.

Draco sensed that Yamato was struggling with the situation. He knew that Maximus could easily kill Anastasiou, and he'd been planning to unleash Maximus on the vampire from the very beginning. But if he didn't immediately trigger the self-destruct conditioning he'd buried deep within the personality as a safety precaution, Anastasiou, Von Brandenburg or the other vampires would be upon him before he could order Maximus to defend him.

"Go ahead, _Master_," Maximus mocked. "Give the order. 'Shinigami,' the name for the god of death; that was the trigger word, wasn't it? That was the first thing I neutralised."

"He s-shouldn't k-know the word," Yamato stammered. "He neutralised the command. But …t-that's not possible."

"Yet he succeeded anyway, didn't he?" Anastasiou snarled.

"Be reasonable, Maximus," Rheinhart pleaded. "You'll have plenty of opportunities to show that you're the strongest. But surely you understand that you won't be able to win if thousands of wizards band together to defeat you. That's madness."

"If I can't do it, then I'm unworthy as well. I know it will be difficult. As it should be, for otherwise the world will fall into the hands of cowards."

Draco rolled his eyes. Wolfe had somehow infected the parasitic personality with some barbarian sense of honour and propriety, and he'd destroy anyone who disagreed. He'd probably succeeded because it didn't cause Maximus' new mission to clash with the older one, namely, to be a destroyer. The only problem with the current situation was that Maximus picked his own targets, and Draco had a hunch that he was very likely on the list of targets. Since Maximus was doing this on his own and not on Yamato's orders, it meant that the contract Draco had signed with Yamato likely wouldn't protect him since it wasn't Yamato who was betraying him, technically.

Draco began to edge his way towards a door that led to a small antechamber. Though the antechamber was a dead end, there _was_ a ventilation shaft that was connected to other rooms. All he had to do was shrink himself sufficiently so he'd fit without any problems. Or maybe…it would just be a better idea to hitch a ride with Yamato, who seemed to have a Portkey on him. Maximus' casual revelation that he'd kill Yamato too if the initial conditioning weren't restraining him, had shocked the Japanese wizard to the core. No longer certain that even those directives would hold, Yamato had decided it was a good time to leave. Draco sent a silent prayer of thanks to whoever was responsible for the necromancer's extreme paranoia.

When he'd nearly reached Yamato, all hell broke loose. Two vampires had launched themselves at Maximus, hoping to restrain him long enough for the others to finish him. The Dark Trolls didn't stir from their spots, and Draco immediately realised why, as a weighted net appeared out of thin air with a snap of Wolfe's fingers and entangled the vampires. It was an impressive bit of wand-less conjuration. He'd seen Voldemort do it a few times as well, conjuring bindings for those he intended to torture, although it had to be more difficult to apply this to a moving target, like Maximus had just now.

Anastasiou hissed and began to transform. Within seconds, Draco was looking at a grotesque, giant bat-like creature. Its red eyes shone with hatred as it let out an ear-splitting shriek that shattered some of the larger glass pieces in the chandelier that hung above the table. Suddenly, a gale-force wind swept through the room, upending the large conference table and hurling everyone to the ground. Being in his bat-form, Anastasiou was affected even worse. His increased bulk didn't compensate for the volume of his wings, so the sudden gust of wind slammed him against the far wall.

Draco knew he didn't have much time left; Yamato was about to use his Portkey. He drew his wand and summoned the surprised wizard over to where he was lying. When Yamato was in range, Draco grabbed onto his ankle. "You weren't going to leave without me, were you, partner?"

"You made me drop it, you fool!" Yamato yelled over the roar of the wind. Yamato's mind told him what he was looking for. He saw the glove lying in a corner, and summoned it to them. Yamato neatly plucked it out of the air. 

As Yamato struggled to pull it on, Draco turned his attention to the rest of the room to see if anyone was trying to stop them. But no one paid them any heed. Everyone was staring at Maximus. He was surrounded by a translucent aura that looked like whitish flames dancing in the violent winds. His hair was standing upright and the floor around him was cracking due to the massive amounts of energy he was exuding. Quaffle-sized chunks of the marble tiles broke off from the floor and floated upwards in a gravity defying dance, breaking up into smaller chunks as they rose higher. Then the stone floor beneath the tiles also began to break, leaving Maximus standing on a pinnacle of rock in the middle of an ever-deepening and broadening bowl. That was the last thing Draco saw, for the world spun around them as they were transported to another place.

They appeared inside Yamato's workshop and swiftly clambered to their feet.

"Quickly, we have to take as much of my equipment with me as possible," Yamato said urgently.

Draco could see that Yamato had been planning ahead for just such an eventuality. He'd rigged the most important pieces of equipment with Portkeys. He feverishly darted around the workshop, activating the Portkeys, and one by one they were transported off to a new hideout Yamato had set up…in the United States. Draco smiled. The United States would suit him just fine. It was a big country that had a somewhat thinly-spread wizarding population compared to Britain.

They heard a muffled explosion, presumable from the conference chamber they'd just abandoned, and bits of the ceiling tumbled down around him.

"Fool…he'll bring the compound down on us all!" Yamato muttered, and further hastened the preparations for their departure.

Draco shrugged. "You made him." 

"Yes, but not like this. I must have made a mistake somewhere. I should have known something was wrong when he started copulating with the Mistress," Yamato said in between puffing breaths. The exertion of scurrying around the workshop was more exercise than he was used to.

"You let him retain his basic human needs, didn't you? So why does it surprise you? She's the most attractive female in the compound, even if she is a _Mudblood_."

"It goes beyond that. He is…protective of her. I didn't enable him to show affection of any kind."

"But you didn't block that possibility out, did you?" Draco inquired.

"No, but I didn't think it would be an issue."

"And Wolfe capitalised on that."

Yamato stopped dead in his tracks and turned top stare at Malfoy. _"What?"_

"Wolfe was the one who disengaged the self-destruct code you implanted in the parasite. And he also added to and changed its conditioning whenever possible. He couldn't change the most important issues, like never to turn on its creator, but the affection and barbarian's outlook on who deserves to wield power were his doing. And don't stop packing, man. They'll come looking for us soon."

Yamato was now slapping small sticky Portkeys onto everything he wanted to take with him, and after a few seconds each of those items vanished. "Wolfe! Damn, I should have foreseen this."

Draco smiled. "Don't worry about Wolfe. The way he's making Maximus act, he'll destroy himself pretty soon. He can't take on the whole world, no matter how strong he is." And even if he were that strong, Draco would soon be stronger. All he had to do was wait and let the Order of Illumination and Maximus weaken each other. When that happened, he'd be ready with his own army.

"Everything has been transported," Yamato said. "Unless there is something really important you think I have forgotten."

Draco shook his head. He couldn't think of anything.

"Then grab onto my wrist," Yamato said, extending his arm. And after Draco had taken a firm grip, he made a fist and extended his thumb and middle finger from the gloved hand. It was the signal that activated the Portkey, and they were whisked away to their destination in the United States.

They landed again amid a clutter of equipment, and it seemed they weren't alone. A watery-eyed little man Draco knew all too well had his wand trained on them, but was lowering it as he recognised the new arrivals. Last time he'd checked, the man had been one of his own spies. Apparently he'd been doing some work on the side for Yamato.

"Mr Malfoy, I believe you know my assistant."

"Wormtail… always the first rat to leave a sinking ship," Draco sneered.

"I've always liked to keep my options open," Pettigrew replied.

"You must be out of your mind, Yamato. Wormtail here is a compulsive traitor."

"I have taken suitable precautions to ensure his co-operation," Yamato said, and his thoughts prompted Draco to notice Pettigrew's new hand. It wasn't the smooth silver one he used to have. This one looked more like a medieval gauntlet.

"I see you've got a new paw."

"One of my better works," Yamato said. It is strong enough to crush skulls, has a Portkey function similar to the glove I just used, and contains three poisonous darts that shoot out of the index finger." And what Yamato didn't say, though Draco could tell anyway because of his Mind Reading ability, was that it wouldn't work against Yamato, and worse, would deliver a nasty curse to Pettigrew if he tried. That was the precaution Yamato had taken.

"What happened to the old hand?" Draco asked.

"It stopped working. It began to get a bit inflexible two years after the Dark Lord's death, and it kept losing magic until it wouldn't move anymore."

Draco understood. With Voldemort dead, many of the things he'd conjured stopped working. It was actually surprising that Pettigrew's hand had kept on working as long as it had. "Well, no sense in walking around with a useless metal claw, I suppose. Does it blend in with your Animagus transformation?"

"Of course it does. Do you think I'm an idiot?" Yamato snorted, looking highly affronted.

Draco shrugged. "I thought I'd ask, since Voldemort's replacement always remained silver. Anyway, what makes you think this place is secure? How do you know Anastasiou won't find us?"

Yamato chuckled. "I don't think Anastasiou is among us anymore."

"He isn't?" Pettigrew asked, astonished.

Draco didn't answer Pettigrew. "You know what I mean. He had lots of Mind Readers running all over the place. How do you know he hasn't been keeping tabs on you?"

"I know he has, but the fact of the matter is, I never thought about this little retreat in public, so I deem it highly unlikely that any of his spies picked it up."

"_I_ did."

Yamato pulled the Portkey glove he'd used out of a pocket of his coat. "After finalising my preparations, I locked the knowledge away inside my mind so Anastasiou's henchmen couldn't get to it. Aside from being a Portkey, this glove functioned as another type of key, namely to unlock that information. This glove was only to be used when I decided to leave Anastasiou's employ permanently, and I decided to do so today. You only read the relevant thoughts _after_ I used it, didn't you?"

"Clever."

"Merely clever? I think brilliant would be a more appropriate word."

"If you wanted someone who'd suck up to you, you should have brought von Brandenburg along."

"I think it is safe to assume that he isn't among us anymore either," Yamato grinned. "You said that Wolfe influenced Maximus to a certain extent, right? Well, Wolfe's always hated Anastasiou and his vampires because they were responsible for the deaths of his mother and maternal grandparents. Since I didn't include any directives about not harming any vampires, it wouldn't be unreasonable to assume that he'll wipe out the whole undead brood. On the other hand, he might be a bit more pragmatic than that."

"In what way?" Pettigrew asked.

"He may use any vampire foolish enough to stick around as cannon fodder, hoping that they might cull the weak from the ranks of his prey so only the _worthy _adversaries remain," Yamato explained. "At least, his behaviour left me with that impression. It all depends on how much Wolfe managed to influence Maximus."

When Yamato looked at him inquisitively, expecting a confirmation of his theory, Draco shook his head. "Wolfe caught me peeking and threw me out before I could see the details. Still, I'm not sure if Wolfe would have Maximus spare the vampires and unleash them onto the world, assuming that the vampires don't scatter and hide, of course. No, he wouldn't risk harming the sheep he spent his life herding. Too many people he's attached to would be at risk."

"True, but he has shown a remarkable amount of disregard for their safety when zealously pursuing a goal. I recall hearing that he planted a tracer on Potter's girlfriend and allowed you to capture her. He could be relentless, like Lei Li was." Yamato pointed out.

"He really broke the rules when he had that Harry Potter Cauldron Clone created, didn't he?" Pettigrew mentioned.

Draco had forgotten about that. They'd all been surprised when their source in Concordia had finally heard why exactly Wolfe had wanted a clone of Potter. He'd needed it to close a causality loop caused by time-travel. Apparently there had been an accident that would have ended up costing the real Potter his life. Wolfe had travelled back in time to stop it. In order to ensure that his past self still travelled to the past, it had to appear as if Potter had really died, so he substituted Potter with the clone.

"He did, but that situation was different. He had the clone made to save Potter's skin."

"Either way, letting the ends justify the means is an integral part of his mentality," Yamato said. "But I suppose we'll have to wait and see what happens."

With that, the discussion ended, and they set about preparing the hideout to fulfil their future needs. Since Yamato didn't want them touching the sensitive material, Draco and Pettigrew were done rather quickly. Draco wanted to use the opportunity to familiarise himself with the surroundings to improve his chances of Apparating successfully. But he didn't want to run the risk of drawing the Order of Illumination to their location.

Before Draco formally joined Anastasiou's organisation, they had managed to capture a Ranger while he'd been on leave, and introduce a parasitic personality into his mind. Information from that Ranger had been invaluable, for it had revealed the existence of the Order of Illumination's Orbital Eyes. A pity that the Rangers had found out about Quist relatively quickly. But fortunately, they'd still had one reliable source left in Concordia. Like Quist, there was a parasitic personality controlling her. Though that parasite's host had never been privy to the Order's secrets, she'd interacted with Rangers enough to be able to give Draco and her other contacts a relatively clear picture of the scale of Ranger activity at given times. This information was based on how many Rangers, and which Rangers went to relax at the bar she worked in. The fact that her father was a Ranger didn't hurt either. Unfortunately, she'd been cut off from the Rangers by their move out of Concordia. But one of her final messages had been very interesting.

"Did you hear what our source in Concordia found out before the Rangers moved away?"

Yamato stopped arranging his equipment for a moment. "About Quist, and how they found a way to remove the parasite within him? Yes, I heard. But I can't believe they found a way to remove it."

"Just because _you_ don't know how to remove one doesn't mean someone else couldn't have worked it out," Draco smirked.

"This is my area of expertise, and I'm telling you there is no way to remove one. Well, _in theory_ it's possible, but it requires massive amounts of energy. On the other hand—and I believe this is what happened—it would be much easier to make a device that interferes with a parasite's hold on its subject and neutralises it."

Draco shrugged indifferently. "Whatever you say. I feel like going out for a stroll to get my bearings. Got any of those Confundus Amulets handy?"

Yamato handed him one after rummaging around for a few minutes. "Try to keep out of sight, will you? This thing protects you from magical detection, but you're on the most wanted list around here too. Maybe the average American wizard will not recognise you, but someone from their Magical Law Enforcement might. I'd advise you to wear some Muggle clothing and to use something that conceals your features. We're in Salem. Their Ministry is located here, and the wizarding population is at its densest here."

"No, I was planning on attracting attention by prancing around in wizard clothes. Honestly, man." Draco rolled his eyes and drew his wand. Back when he'd smuggled dark artefacts, he'd taught himself to transfigure his own clothing as he was wearing it, in case he needed to lose himself in a Muggle crowd. His choice of clothes would reflect the environment he was in, but his all-time favourite had been the dark grey business suit.

Half an hour later he strolled through the town, regarding the Muggles from behind his sunglasses. He smiled, knowing that the time had come to begin his own expansion.

He needed something that would really draw the attention of the local Ministry wizards, and it would be convenient if it were close to a safe Apparition point. In towns like the one he was in, those spots were generally unplottable alleys, marked as such by distinctive graffiti. Usually they were situated in central locations, and he made his way to where he thought such a location would likely be in a town similar to Salem, with a relatively high concentration of wizards. His educated guess paid off after about twenty minutes of searching.

He pulled his wand out of a long and narrow pocket specially designed to hold his wand, and chose his target. A fire hydrant steadily growing to the proportions of a skyscraper ought to do it. With a flick of a wand, the hydrant began to grow. He wouldn't let it grow too fast, since that would bring an excessive number of Ministry wizards to the site to Obliviate the Muggles, and he only needed one or two wizards. It also had to grow slowly enough for the Ministry to have plenty of reaction time. A few minutes later, it was sticking out over the roofs of the lowest buildings. Such events, deliberate or accidental, were not uncommon in wizard-rich environments, and Draco knew that a Ministry wizard would pop out near him any second now.

He was proven right moments later, when an overeager-looking wizard appeared about ten feet away with a loud cracking sound. The pimply-faced wizard noticed him standing there, twirling his wand. He tried to look stern and intimidating as he approached Draco.

"Sir, are you—"

He never got the chance to finish his original sentence, because Draco had shoved two fingers into his chest as soon as he'd come close enough. The wizard stared down to where Draco's fingers had connected, and saw black ooze quickly spreading out over his body.

He gasped. "Oh God."

Draco smirked. "Malfoy will suffice."

The ooze engulfed the wizard completely for a few seconds before it receded, leaving in its wake an exact copy of Draco. He saw himself reflected in the duplicate's sunglasses as he leaned forward to straighten the duplicate's tie.

"Thank you," the duplicate said graciously.

*

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And what rough beast, its hour come at last,

Slouches towards Bethlehem to be born? -- **W.B. Yeats**

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Calen: Great, then we're cool.

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Gogirl: I wouldn't know. I never watched Dawson's Creek.

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MerlinHalliwell: I have a pretty vivid imagination, but I have a long way to go with regards to writing. Thanks for the compliment, though.

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Terra: Well, I'm a bit of a weirdo myself. ;-)

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CatatonicReaction: Huh? I'm not familiar with that expression

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Lourdes: Here is the next chapter.

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Starwest45: You'll just have to wait and see. Nut I'm glad that the chapter made you think. That's exactly what I'm aiming for.

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Lord Dreadnault: Of course Ginny's views are flawed. That's not what I meant. I meant that she isn't _completely _beyond reason, and that's what you seemed to be implying in your previous reviews. I could be wrong, though.

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Jake: I'm sorry this chapter took so long to be posted. The thing is that I like to keep a two chapter buffer zone and I haven't been able to write much lately, so the posting has been catching up to my writing. I chose to finish chapter 34 (which is over 10,000 words) before posting this chapter.

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Chelli Potter: Ah, yes…is Wolfe/Maximus indeed the dark general? Good, I was wondering when someone would bring this up. *evil cackle*

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jadesfire: Well, Harry and Ginny are smart enough, so…

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bane: I don't live in the States either, nor am _I_ a movie buff.

Okay, now to answer your question as to why I believe Harry and Ginny will get together. The answer: I don't. I'm **_hoping_** they will get together because I'm a hopeless romantic. I want to see Ginny's affection returned. (Hermione said that Ginny _gave up_ on Harry, not that she's _over_ him.) Before OotP I had no evidence whatsoever to really support my theory. However, in OotP we've seen that Ginny's tough enough to handle Harry, and possibly the danger they will be in later. She's clever and attractive. 

(Yes, I think Harry thinks Ginny is pretty enough. Not like Cho, but certainly no dog. Allow me to elaborate. 1) Tonks has been described as having a heart shaped face, which is usually considered symmetrical and attractive. Also, she's related to Narcissa and Bellatrix, the former having been described as beautiful in GoF, and the latter as having lost her beauty in Azkaban, implying that she was rather attractive in the past, evil or not. ;-) 2) Tonks is often described with regards to her hair colour and outfit. Now JK doesn't have Harry drooling over Tonks, but the mere fact that he always gives her a once over means that he does _notice_ her. 3) The infamous quote where Harry thinks Tonks could look like Ginny's older sister when she grows long red hair. Yeah, I know it isn't much to go on, but it's something. And Ginny _was _interesting enough to attract Michael Corner's attention, who later proved to be 'good' enough to hook up with pretty and popular Cho Chang. That suggests, though it doesn't prove conclusively, that Corner mingles with the more popular crowd and has either charm or looks going for him.)

She's also brave and has a good sense of humour. After OoTP I think she'd be a good match for Harry. I hope that answers your question.

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LadySiri: That's okay. Schoolwork comes first. Did you find the e-mail useful? Please don't see it as a flame. It really isn't.

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Casual Reader: Of course.

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nycgal: No need to thank me for putting her in.

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Stefanie: I'm glad you like my original characters. I do my best to make them as three-dimensional as possible. A/U means Alternative Universe; when events in fanfiction diverge from canon.

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jona: I respect your tenacity. I would have given up on DoR a long time ago if I had been in you shoes.

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Brad: Sorry, no light shows.

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Petals: 36 chapters may not be enough. I might need a chapter 37

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Lioness-07863: I try to update every 10 to 12 days.

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Jane Grey: It _was_ rushed. A victim of having too many subplots. :-( Oh, and Harry _will_ enter the fray. Harry and Wolfe will fight. I'm not bullshitting you.

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Lady Reaper of the Shadows: Did you spot the Matrix reference in this chapter?

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Obsessed-With-Snuffles: Read when you have time.

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	33. A Late Delivery from Avalon

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A Late Delivery from Avalon

Chapter 33

Though the new Ranger base was no place for children, it was obvious why Mary had come along. By now Anastasiou's people must have worked out that Caer Sidi was the Ranger's new base of operations, and that it had to be under the Fidelius Charm because no one could see it anymore. Since Matt owned the island and Mary was his daughter, it was reasonable to assume that they'd try to harm her to get to Matt.

Jasmine and Charlie Jr. were also prime targets due to their gift and relation to Commander Ironheart. Charlie Sr. hadn't been too happy when he'd been asked to part from his family again mere months after he'd arrived in Concordia. He'd argued that his wife-to-be and son would be safe enough at The Burrow, but when Commander Ironheart had reminded him why Anastasiou would be after them, he'd reluctantly agreed. As it was, Hermione knew that the Weasley family had to be on the hit list again because of Ron and Ginny, and possibly Harry and herself.

However, she couldn't work out why Nicolai was there. His mother and grandmother had gone to Isola di Nethuns, an unplottable island roughly the size of the Maltese island Gozo. Along with two other wizarding islands, Isola di Bruno, and Nouvel Atlantis, which belonged to wizarding France, it lay in the Tyrrhenian Sea, at the centre of a fictitious triangle drawn between Naples, Palermo and Cagliari. Isola di Nethuns—named after the Etruscan predecessor of Neptune—according to _The World's Wizarding Settlements_, belonged to and was inhabited by Aria's immediate family, the Buccafuscas, though they shared it with three other families of lower social rank. Aria's mother was the matriarch of the influential and shady Buccafusca di Nethuns family, and she was nicknamed 'the godmother.' Hermione smiled inwardly. Small wonder Elena had run off with Boris Savin. Contrary to what George Ramos had speculated in The Barrel, Hermione had a feeling Elena had known exactly with_ whom_ she was getting together, though she might have been a bit naïve about the danger factor due to her relative youth at the time.

Owing to the efforts of families like the Buccafuscas, the Italian territories had remained free of Anastasiou's influence. Like their Russian counterparts, the local magical underworld in Italy had enough muscle to keep Anastasiou out. The fact that many of Anastasiou's people were defectors from such underworld organisations like the Russian and Italian ones meant, thankfully, that the Italian and Russian wizarding Mafia weren't likely to ever start co-operating with Anastasiou because they were well known for holding grudges. However, Hermione knew that it would only be a matter of time before Anastasiou grew influential enough to deal with them as well.

For the moment, however, Aria and Elena would be safe there. Their relatives would be able to protect them better than the Order could, unless they stayed at Caer Sidi itself. But putting Aria and Commander Nomvete in each other's vicinity had the potential to be disruptive, to say the least. So with great difficulty Commander Ironheart had managed to convince his wife to go to Isola di Nethuns instead, where his eldest and second eldest daughter already lived. The prospect of being surrounded by her granddaughters again finally convinced her to go. 

Still, why hadn't Nicolai gone with them? He'd have been perfectly safe there. Could it be that he wouldn't be welcome because he was a scion of the Buccafuscas' Russian rivals? No, that didn't make any sense, or else Elena likely wouldn't have been welcome either. 

"What is it now, Lilia?" Hermione asked, as the Filipino witch's colourful curses filled the room.

"Venting frustration," Lilia replied mournfully. "We're on our own with no nurses to help out with the trivial tasks. We won't have any free time. If I ever get that toad Yamato in my sight, I'll turn him into sushi." 

"We'll be getting reinforcements from Timothy Flyte."

"He's a quill-pusher. How could he possibly help us?" Lilia asked.

Timothy Flyte was a New Zealander, or Kiwi, as they liked to be called, from the Administrative Division. It was true that he hadn't been trained in healing magic, but his records showed he'd been very good at potions in school. Hermione wasn't surprised. Like brewing potions, Flyte's previous duties required a precise and methodical disposition. 

"He'll be helping us brew the potions. That will leave us free to work on other things. Speaking of potions, where do you think it's best to set up the cauldrons?"

Lilia shrugged helplessly. "Beats me. We don't have enough space in here." 

Hermione bit her lip and surveyed their workspace. Back at the Citadel they'd had plenty of space. Several labs to do research in and enough beds for half the Order to occupy at a single time. Now they only had two laboratories and fifteen beds. 

"I'll go get Captain Sharif to let _him_ decide."

Hermione nodded and Lilia hurried out of the cramped laboratory in search of the captain. Moments later, Ginny and Gudrun entered—leaving a trail of dust on the floor, much to Hermione's displeasure.

"Honestly, couldn't you two have taken a shower before coming here?"

"We just set up the last of the showers, but they're not working yet," Gudrun said.

"You'd better hurry. People are getting tired of waiting to take a shower."

"Sure, keep heaping more pressure on me," Gudrun said, glowering at Hermione.

"Oooh, someone's in a bad mood today!"

"I'm not in a bad mood. I just don't need this!" Gudrun screamed. Then, to Hermione's astonishment, Gudrun sat on a stool and began bawling her lungs out.

Ginny, however seemed to know what was going on and she stepped up to Gudrun and threw her arms around her. "It'll be okay. We'll be done in time. There's nothing to worry about."

"N-no…I'm useless," Gudrun sobbed. "I can't get this done in time. I'll let everyone down and we'll lose and Anastasiou will take over. What will happen to my children?" she hiccuped. "I'm a l-lousy R-Ranger…b-bad mother. I can't have a baby. What have I gotten myself into? What will become of Maria…"

"Shhh…I'll help you. We're all here for you." Ginny patted Gudrun on the back. "We'll go back downstairs and finish installing everything. Then you'll take a warm bath and I'll have a bowl of your favourite yoghurt ready, all right?" Then she conjured a tissue and handed it to Gudrun who first dabbed away the tears and then blew her nose.

Hermione smiled. Ginny had handled that well, and Hermione suspected that it hadn't been the first time that day. Even though the worst hormonal activity inherent to the first trimester ought to have been over for Gudrun, Hermione knew it was different for every woman. Maybe Gudrun was one of those women who were more prone to mood swings. The added stress of the moment was definitely contributing to Gudrun's reaction, though. "And to what do I owe the pleasure of your visit?"

"Something for her heartburn," Ginny said, nodding at Gudrun.

Hermione groaned. "Lilia brought those in. I have no idea where she put them. I could take a look around but it'll probably take less time if we wait for Lilia to return."

"Where'd she go?"

"We're having a bit of trouble finding a place for all our equipment. She went to find Captain Sharif so he could make the final decision."

Ginny stroked her chin pensively as she glanced around the lab. "I suppose we could make some extra dimensional storage cupboards with an automatic conjuration feature for you. That'll allow you to store away the equipment you don't use frequently so you can prioritise what gets a permanent place. Problem is, we're swamped right now."

While Hermione could magically enhance the volume of any storage space just as well as Ginny could, she knew that many charms had limited duration and would eventually wear off. It wasn't until her sixth year at Hogwarts that they'd talked about the fact that broomsticks and many magical objects that were supposed to last a lifetime had runes drawn onto or carved into them. In a way, these runes trapped the charms onto the enchanted object and prevented them from ever wearing off. "Automatic conjuration?"

Ginny nodded. "We give everything that goes into the cupboard a number and we add a key-pad with numbers to the door. When you need anything, you dial in the number and the thing you need will appear you when you open the door. Since there may be several items of a kind in the cupboard, it will prevent all of them zooming at you if you summon them. It will also keep track of the items in the cupboard. We can charm it to tell when a certain absent item was removed and by whom, if we give every one of you an access code."

"Good idea. Serafina tends to misplace things and forget where she put them."

"That's funny, because she has an excellent memory for gossip," Ginny said with a giggle. "Anyway, it was Gudrun's idea. We've already anticipated that lack of space would be a problem."

"How did you come up with this idea?" Hermione asked Gudrun.

"I was really hungry, and I had a craving for onion rings. I remembered these onion rings I bought in a vending machine once…you know, the one where you dial in what you need and it slides forward. That's where I got the idea. And by adding a few charms to allow the cupboard to list what's inside, and when things are taken out and returned, you wouldn't have to remember writing it down in the logbooks all the time."

"I suppose it would be best if we still use the logbooks as a backup," Hermione said. "Maybe it would be a good idea to update these logbooks as well. After all, why should the analysts have all the gadgets while we're still using parchment and quill?"

"A few months ago that wouldn't have been an unreasonable request," Gudrun said wryly. "But after we're done preparing the base, we're going to refurbish all the prowlers and that's going to take a lot of time. Also, since we're pretty much cut off from the rest of the world, it'll be harder getting the raw materials we work with."

"Holy onion rings, Gudrun, I think you just gave me an idea!" Ginny punched her fist into her hand.

Gudrun raised an eyebrow and smirked. "And what might that be, Robin?"

"Huh?" Ginny looked nonplussed, and Hermione grinned. She knew what Gudrun was talking about. Ginny's words and gesture had reminded her of the same thing.

"Never mind," Gudrun shook her head. "Muggle TV show based on a comic book. You were saying?"

"We've got a vault full of alchemist's stones, don't we? We can transmute all the rock debris we've got left over from hollowing out parts of the island into substances we need."

Gudrun looked impressed. "Good one. You ought to tell Captain Yee about it as soon as possible. _Right now_ would be a good time, since we're waiting for Lilia to turn up again anyway. She should be in the gemstone tower, installing the controls for the Orbital Eyes."

"On my way." Ginny nodded, and bolted out of the laboratory, nearly knocking over Captain Sharif and Lilia, whose oaths followed Ginny out of the compact new medical wing.

"Do you think Matt will agree to our using his family jewels?" Hermione asked, knowing that he probably would, but that he shouldn't be taken for granted.

"Whoa, you've got your own man…Matt's jewels are mine," Gudrun said with a half-smile.

Hermione blushed. "Uh, that came out wrong. Well, you know what I mean, though."

Gudrun's smile broadened. "Yeah, I do. And you _know_ he won't object. Even if he had objected, I'd have withheld his daily dose o' lovin', and he'd have caved pretty soon."

"And you complain that _I_ always talk about sex?" Lilia quipped.

"My raging hormones are my excuse," Gudrun retorted. "What's yours?"

Captain Sharif cleared his throat. "Ladies, there is much to be done."

"The captain's right," Hermione nodded. "Actually, Gudrun and I were just talking about a solution to the space problem. Extra dimensional cabinets."

"What a coincedence. I just asked Yee about it. She said you'd be too busy for the time being."

"She's right," Gudrun said ruefully. "But once we get around to doing it, we'll make special cupboards. And instead of going into the cabinet and looking for whatever you need, we sort the contents by number and place them on their proper spot on the shelves. Then, if you need anything, you'd just dial in the number of whatever you need and it would be in front of you as you open the door."

"Why not use names, or activate the spell by voice?" Sharif frowned.

"I suppose we can modify it to react to voices as well. But for the sake of keeping things organised, I'd advise you to stick to numbers and not names. It'll make it much easier for us to set it up. All you have to do is keep a chart of the numbers and their corresponding items. If I end up with a lot of time on my hands, I can even add a mirror screen for you that shows you a real-time projection of the relevant item before you confirm its retrieval."

"Like those computer screens that react to touch!" Hermione said excitedly.

"Something like that," Gudrun nodded. "I was also thinking about adding several codes for the likely users of the cabinets to grant them access. That way the cabinet would be able to register _who_ took out a certain item and _when_."

"That would certainly keep Serafina from misplacing things," Sharif muttered. "Yes, that's a good idea. I hope you get around to doing this as soon as possible. For the time being we'll manage by shrinking certain items. To avoid losing them I want you girls to write down where you put them and copy those parchments several times in case we lose those too."

Gudrun laughed. "I thought you people were neater than this."

"We are, but you don't know Serafina. Everything she touches seems to turn invisible," Lilia said.

"But why are you here if you don't have time to install those cabinets?" Sharif asked Gudrun. "Are you feeling all right?"

"Indigestion," Gudrun answered.

"I don't know where you put the indigestion potion," Hermione said to Lilia. "Otherwise I would have given some to Gudrun already."

"Oh, damn! I had to take care of some business so I switched tasks with Serafina. I have no idea where she put the potions."

And odds were that Serafina would have forgotten by now. Of course she'd remember eventually, but by then Gudrun would have gone through a whole lot of discomfort. Everyone groaned.

*

Though Hogwarts had been better than this, it wasn't too bad. They didn't have quite as much space to themselves, with eight bunk beds crowding a forty-by-twenty-foot dormitory. But the company was good and there weren't any conflicts; at least, they'd stopped after Alain Moreau moved out and was replaced by Laughter Lota. Compared with the arrogant Frenchman who had been getting on their collective nerves, the jolly Zambian with the perpetual grin on his face was a godsend. 

Harry rolled onto his side. At fifty inches wide, his bed wasn't quite a double one, but he had more than enough space. The only problem was remembering that even though it looked like he was in a four-poster, he was in the top bunk. After his first night's sleep he rolled out of bed, expecting to find the floor under his feet. Instead it was a five-foot drop with an awkward landing that sprained his ankle. On the bright side, it had given him an excuse to go see Ginny, who still spent some time in the medical section of the new base.

"Dude, is this for real?" George Ramos' unmistakable tenor said in a hushed tone, though not softly enough to prevent Harry from hearing it. 

Harry peeked through the aperture in his curtains. Carlos Montalban, George Ramos and Rolf Larsson, who were also off duty like Harry, swept into the dormitory, looking excited about something.

"How did you get this milestone 1980 issue of Playwizard anyway?" Larsson asked.

"I've got an uncle who married in January, and his wife made him get rid of his Playwizard collection. It is huge! The man subscribed in '73." Montalban explained. "So imagine my surprise when the cover girl of this issue is none other than our own Captain Kovalenko"—he opened the magazine—"there has to be a foldout poster somewhere…aha!"

Much to Harry's shame, the way his roommates were goggling at the picture made him rather curious. The Rangers' tunics didn't exactly accentuate bodily contours, but he'd seen Captain Kovalenko in casual clothing once. She'd been wearing a dress that hugged her frame, and Harry could tell the good captain was well proportioned.

"Oh yeah, Irina's a babeski…definitely," Larsson squinted his eyes and began to read out loud. "This exquisite gift to wizard-kind was born to a Muggle-born witch and wizard in the Ukrainian coastal town of Vylkove near the Romanian border. She enjoys sailing and relaxing in the hot tub afterwards, with or without a bathing suit."

Montalban grinned. "Well, what a coincidence…me too!"

Harry rolled his eyes. Those blokes were all at least a year older than he was. He wondered whether _he_ was the odd one, or whether men in their early twenties were supposed to behave like that. He smiled. They definitely wouldn't behave like this within sight of the girls. That was for sure. 

"Check out that naughty look in her eyes…I've always sensed volcanic activity beneath that icy exterior. You know, she was checking me out when I was introduced to her," Larsson boasted.

"You're full of shit, Rolf," Ramos said, eyeing the Swede sceptically.

"I swear it on my mother's grave!"

"Nice try. You mother isn't dead yet."

"Yes, she is. The woman I call my mother is actually my stepmother. My real mother was eaten by a dragon in the annual broom race from Kopparberg to Arjeplog when I was one and a half."

"Oh, sorry," Ramos said bashfully.

Larsson shrugged off the faux pas. "Yes, well, it was a long time ago, and I was too young to understand anyway." He turned to Montalban. You know, you ought to walk up to the captain and let her autograph it for you."

"You're nuts!" Montalban said, shaking his head.

"_I'd_ do it."

"You're bluffing,"

"No, he ain't." Ramos said seriously, and looked at the poster again. "Are you sure this is the same Irina Kovalenko? Her nose is different."

"Oh yeah!" Montalban nodded. "It says here that she's nineteen, and she just turned forty-two last week. This is a February issue, so the ages match. Besides, I subtly asked around. I discovered that about five years ago, she got a very ugly curse in the nose that they couldn't completely reverse. That's why the nose in the picture is prettier."

"Bull…you didn't ask around subtly. You don't have a subtle bone in your body. Who'd you ask?" Larsson inquired.

"Montoya."

"And how would _he _know?"

"Because Lilia Rosaria told me that Serafina Esposito told her that Montoya had a thing with Captain Kovalenko about ten years ago. It didn't work out, though, because the death of her former lover was still on her mind. It was a Swedish Ranger." Montalban turned to Larsson. "And you'll never guess what his name was."

"Martin Larsson."

"Yeah, how did you know?" Montalban frowned.

Ramos noticed Larsson's sad look. "A relative of yours?"

"My uncle…my father's younger brother. He was the middle child, like me." A rueful chuckle escaped from Larsson's throat. "He always tried so hard to get out of the shadow of the firstborn and the baby sister. Damn…I remember my grandmother complaining about him seeing a Russian woman. She doesn't like Russians because she's Finnish. She still harbours a grudge about the Second World War."

Ramos frowned. "Yeah, but Captain Kovalenko isn't Russian." 

"Grandma makes no distinction between Russians and Ukrainians. She must've been talking about Captain Kovalenko." Larsson smiled faintly. "I suppose Captain Kovalenko wasn't checking me out after all. She must've recognised my surname and looks."

Ron came barging in. "Hello chaps! What have you got there?"

"What?" Montalban said, assuming a very unconvincing expression of innocence.

Instead of waiting for an answer, Ron drew his wand and the hastily folded up magazine shot out from Montalban's back and into his hand.

"No incantation…not bad, Weasley!" Ramos praised.

"I've been practising. Hmmm, Playwizard…my brother used to have a bunch of these."

Harry frowned. It had to be either Bill or Charlie. If it had been Fred and George, Ron would have mentioned them together, and Percy was really out of the question. Besides, since the three of them had lived under Mrs Weasley's roof until they moved out with their girlfriends, they would have been risking their mother's considerable wrath by keeping such literature in the house. Harry doubted that even Fred and George would have thought it worth the risk. 

Bill and Charlie on the other hand, had been on their own for a long time. Of the two, Harry thought it likelier that Charlie would've possessed some of those magazines, based on what he'd heard about the blokes working in the dragon reservations. Of course, Curse Breakers needed some distraction too every now and then.

"Nice looking girl," Ron said. "Looks sort of familiar…"

"Give that back. You're too young to be reading that," Montalban said and made a grab for his magazine, but Ron kept it out of reach.

"That's daft. I'm of age."

"True, but only those of us who were actually born when the magazine was issued have a right to read it. If I'm not mistaken, you were born in March 1980, and this was issued in February. So hand it back."

Ron didn't pay any attention to his protests. Instead he opened the centrefold, and his ears turned red as he got an eyeful of whatever was on the page. Harry wondered how Hermione would've reacted if she'd been there.

"Bloody hell, is this Captain Kovalenko?" Ron erupted, his eyes nearly bulging out of his sockets.

Ramos laughed. "Don't leer like that, Weasley. We're single, so we're entitled to. Unlike us single boys, _you_, on the other hand, enjoy private quarters because you have a _fiancée_—"

"—who would give you the silent treatment for God knows how long if she were around to see that look on your face," Larsson finished.

Ron scowled and shoved the magazine back into Montalban's chest.

"Hey, careful! This is a milestone issue, they can't be ordered anymore."

"Sorry. Where's Harry?" Ron asked.

It was time to make his presence known. "Right here, Ron."

"We're you sleeping?"

"I was trying to catch some sleep, when those idiots barged in and began drooling over Captain Kovalenko's teenaged self. What's the matter?"

"I just wanted to know if you wanted to come up to Commander Ironheart's office. Clara and I have been trying to work out a strategy to tempt Anastasiou into making a mistake."

"And I assume you're on to something?"

"It was actually Nicolai's idea. That little bloke is getting scarier every day, mate. But Clara and I would've come up with the same idea eventually. His mind just works much faster," Ron added defensively.

Harry smiled. "I suppose that's good, since time is against us. Why would you need me there, though?"

"I already ran the plan by Commander Ironheart in brief a few hours ago, but our meeting was cut short because Commander Nomvete sent him an urgent message. He told me to hold on so he could summon the other officers so they could hear it firsthand and ask their own questions. I just got notice to go to his office and to bring you with me."

"Right," Harry frowned. "But I'm not an officer."

"I'm guessing you'll be on the front line when this plan goes down," Ramos said. It was clear that he and the others had been listening. "That's why you've got to be there."

"This is a very sound plan. It isn't _going down_," Ron said, looking offended.

Larsson shook his head. "No, 'going down' is American for…well, the exact meaning varies with the context, but normally it means when something is either already happening, or about to happen."

"Thank you, Professor Larsson," Ramos smirked.

Larsson smiled but remained quiet.

Harry heaved a sigh and swung his legs over the edge of the bed for a second before he hopped off. "Lead the way," he said, for he himself had no clue where the commander's new office was located.

Ron led him out of the recently dug catacombs, up into the castle proper. Commander Ironheart had chosen the library's antechamber as his office, and as he and Ron crossed the library, Harry noticed two small figures soundly asleep in the gigantic high-backed chair. Nicolai's right arm was wrapped around Mary, while his left arm clutched a thick book with golden lettering that identified it as _Magical Theorems for the Prodigal and the Insane._ Harry sighed. Nicolai had his love for knowledge and his love for Mary nicely balanced out. If only he were so lucky with Ginny. Their current situation was much better than their complete lack of communications a few months ago. But he still longed for the feeling of her warm lips caressing his—

"They're a pretty picture, aren't they?" a female voice whispered.

Harry glanced around, but couldn't see anyone. Only he and Ron were in the room.

"Over here mate, on the wall!" another, more familiar voice said.

Harry followed the sound of the voice, and his gaze settled on a large portrait. Lynette and Nathan were gazing down at him.

"Nathan!"

"Harry Potter. I'm afraid I don't remember you. The memories that formed the basis for my essence in this portrait were taken before we met. But Matt told me we were friends."

Harry nodded. "We were."

"Mum convinced us to save a few memories before we joined the Order, just in case something like this were to happen."

Harry and Ron both jumped. Neither had noticed Matt entering the room, with Gudrun on his arm. They must have used the secret passage. 

"She put all the necessary materials in a vault at Gringotts. When she died, the goblins followed the instructions and sent the package to Madame Delacour. She's one of the best painters in the business," Matt explained. "She finished the portrait early in March."

"Where's your dad?" Ron asked. "Wasn't he included?"

"He was, but he's probably off sulking at my grandma's place in Never Never. That's where the other portrait was sent, Madame Delacour painted two of them. Wasn't too thrilled when he heard I sold off his business empire."

"Moron," Gudrun scoffed. "It was a good thing that Matt sold everything when he did. Another couple of months and all of it would have been worth far less."

The shrewd business people that had been Byron Kelly's former competitors had found out that Matt was in the Order of Illumination. They handily used that information to fabricate a story that buying anything from any of Kelly's businesses would help fund the Order of Illumination. They'd obviously hoped to buy all the assets in a liquidation sale, but Matt had sold everything off to smaller businesses, securing most of the value of his father's assets.

Lynette smiled down at Gudrun. "I can see why Matt couldn't forget you, even after the memory charm. I'm glad all of it sorted itself out. There wasn't a day that went by when I didn't regret allowing Matt's memory to be taken away like that."

Gudrun's arms slid around Matt's waist and she rested her head against his chest. "Don't worry about it, Ma'am. It was written in the stars."

Gudrun's answer tied Harry's intestines into knots of envy, and he clenched his fists in frustration as he saw Gudrun cuddling against Matt. He and Ginny were also meant to be! Why couldn't they have been happy like Matt and Gudrun? Why did the menace of separation have to hang over them?

That damned prophecy! He was going to fight Wolfe, and either he or Wolfe would die. For the sake of the whole world, he'd have to make sure that he wasn't the one who would die. But would he be able to live with himself if he killed Wolfe, the man who had been willing to sacrifice everything so Harry could be happy with Ginny?

"Mr Weasley!" Commander Ironheart bellowed as he swept into library. His expression was an odd mix of worry and triumph. "It would seem that we'll no longer need your plan. Our information is still a bit sketchy, but reliable nevertheless. Anastasiou's organisation is coming apart from within. We've captured one of the people close to the top. He was trying to hide in Russia. I convinced Savin not to kill him until I was done with him."

"What happened?" Ron asked.

"All I can tell you is what I've seen in our captive's mind. Yamato's weapon…Max…he destroyed Anastasiou, von Brandenburg and two or three other top vampires within Anastasiou's organisation. He decapitated the organisation, and most of the cells formerly in Anastasiou's employ have struck out on their own."

"Now that the wellspring is gone, cleaning up the puddles will be much easier."

"Which is exactly what Nehanda is telling those who co-operated with Anastasiou." Ironheart smiled grimly. "Theoretically, even with Anastasiou gone, those politicians would have been able to make things very difficult for us if they'd just stuck to their plan. Fortunately for us, Xavier, the first secretary of the Brazilian Ministry of Magic, is notoriously spineless. Now that Anastasiou is gone, Nehanda broke him easily. He's already given a press conference, claiming that he was under the Imperius Curse and that the world must unite against Anastasiou's threat. The others know that the game is over, and they'll have no choice but to follow."

"Oh, damn. Does this mean I worked my butt off to get this place ready for _nothing_?" Gudrun muttered angrily.

Harry's spirits soared. Wolfe must have thrown off the control they'd had over him. He'd single-handedly brought down Anastasiou's organisation from within. That meant that Wolfe hadn't gone evil, he couldn't be the dark general, and Harry wouldn't have to fight him!

"I'm afraid that's not part of the good news, Mr Potter," Ironheart said slowly, as if every word was very difficult to utter. He swallowed and continued. "I _have_ confirmed that Max is indeed being controlled by a parasitic personality, but I'm afraid I don't see any indication that he expelled the parasite. The witness's thoughts do suggest that he's managed to influence the development of the parasitic personality and turn it against Anastasiou, thus creating the current situation. The prophecy still applies. The Dark Trolls refer to Max as their general, and he did end up superseding his masters." He paused. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to read you like that, but it jumped out at me."

Harry's brief bubble of happiness burst when he heard the commander's words. He shouldn't have got his hopes up like that. 

"Commander, aren't you wearing your communicator?" Matt asked. He was pressing his ear-piece a bit deeper into his ear and seemed to listen intently to whatever the person on the other side was telling him.

Ironheart frowned and patted his pockets. "Bugger, eh! I must have left it in my daughter's room. Why?"

"The control room was trying to contact you. Your daughter must be bringing it to you, because they can see it on the move."

Matt had barely finished his sentence when a tallish and plump witch entered the library clutching Ironheart's personal communicator. When she'd joined, representing Spain, she'd been the youngest witch ever to join the International Confederation of Wizards.

"Thank you, Yanamari," Ironheart smiled.

The Basque witch returned her father's smile. 

Despite having spent more than a week in the same building, Harry had never seen her until now. The only time he'd seen her was in the meeting in the amphitheatre, before the Rangers moved away from the Citadel. Her looks had taken him by surprise. Like his granddaughter Jasmine, all the commander's daughters—at least, the ones Harry had seen—were more attractive than the average woman. That wasn't the case with Yanamari, though. He wouldn't go as far as to say that she'd fallen from the ugly tree, hitting every branch on the way down, but she certainly wasn't much to look at.

Ironheart's expression darkened as he listened to the news and passed the information on to the others. "It's America…Lake Superior. Agua Caliente in the south has already been hit. About a dozen deaths, mostly the Aurors and law enforcement wizards who tried to stop them, and a whole lot of injured. Now they're attacking Laketown."

Agua Caliente and Laketown were wizarding settlements. The former was a wizarding village that surrounded the well-known healing pool, and the latter was a village divided over two unplottable islands in Lake Superior. According to a book on wizarding settlements—Hermione had forced him to read it a while ago—Agua Caliente was briefly mentioned in Native American Mythology, but no Muggle had set foot there for at least six hundred years. Laketown, on the other hand, had actually been discovered by Muggles about halfway through the eighteenth century because no one had bothered to make the islands unplottable before then. As a result, the two islands showed up on every Muggle map of the age under the names of Phillipeaux and Pontchartrain, inspired by the government minister who had funded that exploration of Lake Superior. When the Muggles set the border between the Unites States and Canada in 1783, it was decided that those islands would be part of the U.S. However, when Wisconsin was being settled early in the nineteenth century and the U.S. government sent out surveyors to map out the area more completely, they couldn't find the islands because they'd been made unplottable. Much to the amusement of the wizarding world, the Muggles then simply assumed that the explorers who had discovered the islands had invented their existence and named them after their financial backer in order to be able to present some preliminary findings to justify getting more money for further explorations. The story had stuck in Harry's memory because it had been just another example of how far the Muggles' tendency to overlook the existence of magic.

"When they're done with done with Laketown they'll probably head for Salem," Ron said anxiously.

"We have to stop them at Lake Superior, then," Harry said. Unlike Agua Caliente and Laketown, which were purely wizarding settlements, Salem was packed with Muggles. If they got to Salem, the secret of the wizarding world would be revealed, and given the rate at which the Muggle media was able to spread the news these days, that breach might not be contained.

"He's calling us out," Ironheart said wearily. "Sound the alarm. I hadn't expected this to happen so soon, but we have no choice."

*

"Ready!" Aberforth shouted over the howling alarms, as the last cable that held Anzu secure on the _Zephyrus_' back was fastened into place. The old wizard would be staying behind, as would Galatea and a handful of Rangers who would remain in the gemstone tower, where the control room was located.

Matt and Gudrun shared a hug with their daughter. Matt had wanted Gudrun to stay behind too, but she had flat out refused. Captain Yee had settled the matter by putting Gudrun at the controls of the _Hurricane_, where she'd be marginally safer.

Farther away, Commander Ironheart kissed his daughter and granddaughter goodbye. Captain Yee, who was trying to clear the underground cavern to allow the cruisers to take off, forcibly broke up the moment.

Lieutenant Li, who would also be staying behind, dropped all pretence of being hard to get and kissed Ranger Wong with what seemed like years of pent-up passion.

Ron and Hermione parted with a hug and a kiss. Hermione would be on the _Typhoon_, while Ron would co-ordinate the battle from the _Eurus,_ which would be taking off a little later because a special weapon had to be loaded on board, in case there would be Dementors participating in the fight.

But Harry was nowhere to be seen. She had to see him before they took off, because Ginny had an awful feeling that today would be the day the prophecy would unfold. The wail of the alarm didn't help Ginny concentrate any better either. She keyed her communicator to the control room.

"Sanzotti here!" the person at the other end answered.

Ginny frowned. Captain Sanzotti wasn't from Intel. What was she doing taking calls in the control room? "Uh, yeah, Ginny Weasley here. Captain? What—"

"I'd be in the way on the battlefield," Sanzotti answered quickly. "This way I can still contribute something. That was what you were going ask, right?"

"Yes."

"Well then, now that we've cleared that up, we can move on to the purpose of your call."

Ginny cut straight to the chase. "Right, shut off the bloody alarm. We can't hear ourselves thinking and we all know it's the end of the world already."

The alarm mercifully fell silent a few seconds later, though none of the Rangers in the cavern ceased their frantic preparations. 

"There you go," Sanzotti said. "And good luck." The connection broke before Ginny could answer.

When she resumed scanning the cavern for Harry, Ginny's gaze met Gudrun's, who was still hugging Mary tightly. Gudrun looked down at Mary and then back at Ginny, giving her a meaningful look. She wanted Ginny to remember the promise she had made earlier that day, while devouring some of Gudrun's favourite yoghurt.

If they lost, the promise wouldn't matter much anymore. The whole world would descend into terrible darkness. But in the event that they won, yet neither Matt and Gudrun came out of the conflict alive, Gudrun had asked Ginny to look after Mary, assuming that Ginny would live to see the end of it. If that weren't the case, Ginny was sure that at the very least, Mary would end up being adopted by Aria Ironheart, who had grown very fond of her.

A wrinkly old hand landed heavily on Ginny's shoulder. "Looking for Harry?" 

Afraid she might miss Harry if she gave Aberforth her full attention, Ginny acknowledged him with a quick sideways glance. "Yes." 

"Afraid the prophecy will come into being?"

Though Aberforth had uncannily voiced her thoughts yet again, Ginny couldn't be too surprised anymore. She just nodded.

"I see," Aberforth said kindly, taking Ginny's hand. He pressed something into it and closed her fingers around it. "When he turns up, give him this."

Ginny opened her hand. The remaining half of the tear-shaped medallion shimmered in her palm.

"Have you worked out what it does? Will it protect him?"

"I found that it and its twin were created in Avalon in the Mirror Realm. It does have some protective qualities, though I don't know exactly what they are. We couldn't work out how to activate it."

"Then what good would it do?" Ginny asked exasperatedly, turning to face Aberforth.

"What matters most isn't the gift itself, but where and from whom the gift came," Aberforth said, smiling sagely. "It certainly won't hurt him."

"I suppose not," Ginny conceded with a sigh.

Aberforth nodded. "I knew you'd agree. You know, I wish I could come with you all."

Ginny narrowed her eyes. Commander Ironheart was going with them, even though he'd be up in the _Eurus_, formalising Ron's recommendations into actual orders. He probably wouldn't be at ground zero, but he was still leaving the safety of Caer Sidi. That meant that he wasn't the Fidelius Charm's secret keeper. Commander Nomvete was already away, dismantling the conspiracy against the Rangers, so she couldn't be it either. 

"Aberforth, are you our secret keeper?"

Aberforth raised his eyebrows. "Now what makes you think that?"

"You said you wished you'd be able to come with us. Does that mean you can't leave Caer Sidi for some reason? You haven't left for as long as we've been here."

Aberforth shrugged. "I haven't, have I. Oh, it looks like Harry is here."

Indeed, Harry had just emerged from the tunnel that led to the rest of the makeshift base. He was headed towards the _Notus_, along with Captain Faust, Lieutenant Poliakoff and all the Fourth Class Rangers from the Martial Division. She noticed that all of them were armed with magical weapons out of the vault. Faust had a jewel-encrusted helm under his arm, each gemstone storing a powerful spell that went beyond what a normal wizard could do with a wand. Harry was carrying the Japanese sword that Wolfe had bequeathed to him.

He caught her staring, and Ginny swallowed and gathered her courage. The time had come, yet she had no idea what she'd tell him. She hesitantly beckoned him over, and he approached her just as tentatively.

She opened and closed her mouth, searching for the right words. Finally, she decided to give him the pendant first. It would give her time to work out what to say next. She opened her hand and showed him the pendant. "I, uh—I'd like you to wear this. It was made in Avalon, and it has some protective qualities."

Harry looked surprised. "Really? What does it do?"

Ginny blushed. "Aberforth hasn't worked that out yet. But it won't hurt you to wear it, right?"

"I guess not," Harry said.

Ginny opened the clasp at the back of the chain and reached up to fasten it around Harry's neck. He bent down a little to make the task easier for her, and shivered slightly as her fingers brushed the back of his neck. She could feel the hair on the back of his neck stand on end, and the goosebumps on his skin. The mere thought that she could do that to him made her feel warm and tingly all over.

After a moment of awkward fumbling, the chain was fastened around Harry's neck and Ginny tugged at the collar of Harry's shirt to slide the pendant under it, so he'd be able to feel its presence against his skin. When she drew back, she noticed he had a blush that mirrored her own. Unfortunately, the time it had taken to put on the necklace hadn't given her any ideas on how to express her thoughts.

"Harry, there's something I…I just don't know how—"

"Tell me what's on your mind, and I'll try to make sense of it, okay?"

Ginny drew a deep breath. "You know that I love you, right? I…I'm afraid that today's the day you'll have to face the dark general, and I wanted to tie up loose ends, you know? I don't know…part of me really wants things to go back to the way they were and give in to my desires."

Harry's emerald eyes shone with understanding, making Ginny's heart pound even faster. 

"But you're afraid."

Ginny nodded miserably. "I heard how you can't call on that power inside you anymore, and that it's because of _me_. I'd really like to undo that. Yet, I sense that if I make that concession now, it would mean disaster for us later. I already told you how I feel about allowing that to happen. But on the other hand, if I hold back, I'll deprive you of your power and you might lose and if you lose it would be disastrous for"— Ginny had to stop to swallow away the lump in her throat —"for _everybody_."

Harry wiped her tears away with his thumb. "I'd never want to do anything that would upset you, even if it _is_ for the greater good," he said softly.

Ginny looked at him through her tearful eyes. It was hard to discern his face through the blur, caused by both the tears and her sorrow. "You'd risk the whole world for me?"

"It wouldn't matter anyway, because your heart wouldn't be in it. I know that you love me. That's more than I ever could have hoped for."

"Harry…" she sobbed, throwing her arms around his shoulders and pulling him in a tight hug, her Graphorn armour smacking against his. "Why didn't you fall in love with someone else? Why didn't you fall in love with someone who's really _worthy_ of your love?"

"Because I love _you_. No one else is you. And I wouldn't have it any other way," he mumbled into her neck. 

She pulled back slightly when felt his warm tears moistening her neck. "Even though I've caused you all that grief?"

"I know that knife cut both ways. Try to forget about it, all right?" 

"All right," Ginny sniffed. She saw Khan over Harry's shoulder. The Pakistani Ranger didn't look impatient, though there was an air of urgency about him. They'd probably be waiting for her too, at the _Zephyrus_. "We have to go."

***

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D.Torres: The Matrix is okay. I like Agent Smith, particularly for this quote. Even though he's an evil S.O.B. he's still got a sense of humour.

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Jona: From a technical point of view I'm joking around too much. I completely ruined the suspense with that quote. ;-)

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Jake: Actually, I considered that but rejected it because it would have been too cliché. Wait and see what I have in mind.

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Ginny1946: Commander Ironheart seems to think that Wolfe is the DG. Of course, he doesn't know about Malfoy either. You'll have to wait two more chapters to find out exactly what happens. And why describe the fight between Wolfe/Maximus and the baddies, when your imagination will do so much better a job.

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Gogirl: Yeah, that gut was Agent Smith. I know I really should quit with the movie references, but you haven't seen that last of Agent Malfoy yet. I stopped taking this story too seriously about eight chapters ago. Don't worry, though. I won't turn it into a spoof.

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Lady Reaper of the Shadows: Nah, I'm not claiming the quote is mine. I know I didn't disclaim this quote specifically, but I did say that I'd be borrowing quotes left and right. And like you said, anyone who's seen the flick knows that quote. :-) Oh, and is the screaming sister the same one who suggested your name?

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Stefanie: Sorry to disappoint you. I must have left you under the impression that this chapter was going to be the long one, but it'll be chapter 34. Glad I could help out with the explanation of A/U. I myself don't know half of all the fanfiction terminology.

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Anon: Yes, Harry knows that Ginny still loves him, but she is still holding back and having doubts. In other words, deep down Harry fears that it won't work out after all, ergo he can't tap into his power. And in case you hadn't noticed, Wolfe turned out to be more powerful than anyone had previously imagined. He'd just been holding back for fear of losing control. :-)

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bane: Slash? I'm not sure what slash is. Some people say it is all fanfiction based NC-17 stories, while other say it's just the homosexuality that makes it slash. If you could clarify that for me in the next review, I appreciate it. Anyway, I'll still try to answer your question. Fundamentally I don't have a problem with adult content/slash in fanfiction, be it hetero or gay. After all, once the characters are grown up they do grown-up things. My problem is that I personally like to adhere to canon whenever possible. I'm pretty sure Harry and Ron are not gay, as I am sure that Hermione and Ginny aren't gay either. Canon is pretty clear about that. We also know that Snape had mixed feelings about Lilly (If I remember my OoTP correctly he was doodling her initials on a piece of paper. Or maybe it was James…I'm having trouble remembering that one. I loaned my copy to someone so I can't look it up…damn) Anyway, assuming that I'm right, Snape isn't gay. If I'm wrong, he could go either way. (Hey, that rhymed) Draco Malfoy is a typical closet case, no doubt about it. If someone wants to write slash about him, they have my blessing. ;-) Seriously, from what we can tell from canon, he's interested in women too. But I'm bothering you with trivialities, aren't I? You must be wondering about Sirius and Remus. A slash advocate once tried to sell me the idea that they _had_ to be gay because they didn't have a female partner. That's bullshit. One of them was in jail for the better part of his adult life, and we know that being a werewolf doesn't exactly help one's social life in the wizarding world, so there is no evidence whatsoever that they're gay. However, as far as I can tell there was no evidence to contradict it either, so Remus/Sirius slash would be feasible. (Not that I'd read it. It doesn't do anything for me. Neither does femslash for that matter.) Hetero pairings like Draco/Hermione are also a no go in my book, unless it's rape, but then the story would be far too disturbing for me to read it. *Shudders* To sum it all up, if canon doesn't contradict it, it is possible. Like I said before, I don't mind stories with adult content. Still, whoever posts them online—in my opinion—has to take more precautions than only a popup screen asking if the reader is old enough. It ought to be a passworded site at least. But I'm straying from the topic here. Slash isn't my thing…that's what it comes down to.

Does that answer your question?

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Theauthorthatwrites: I dunno. What?

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Fogish: Long time no hear. Glad to have you back again.

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CatatonicReaction: Interesting quote.

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LadySiri: Yup, you're really getting to know me. I'll have to get more unpredictable.

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Angel of the Flames: Aw, shucks. I actually was going to let Harry stop killing curses in mid air. Now I'll have to write something else. :o)

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Jane Grey: Interesting theory, but incorrect. I do appreciate the effort, though.

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SaBoTaGe3p3: Interesting theories too, both of them. However, neither is right. I am really sorry to disappoint you, but the prophecy is literal in the sense that only one will emerge. That means only one man, not only one personality. And since Harry can't die because it's all about him…God, I can't say it…

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Casual Reader: I knew you'd get a kick out of it.

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Judi: I must be out of my mind to criticise a brand new reviewer like this, but if you actually read the combined 300,000+ words that quickly, you might have missed some of the subtleties in the story. Unless you're a genius, of course, in which case I stand corrected. Thanks for the compliment, and I hope to see you in the column again.

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Dara finVidya: Ain't it?

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Thoroughbred: Gee, I'm blushing.

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Julephenia: It hurts to see you here. I'm glad you are, but it still hurts.

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kay: I'm just having a bit of fun with the movie quotes. This story has dragged on for way longer than I had planned, so I have to bleed off the tension some way.

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Petals1: Like I said, only one person will walk away from the battle. Not one personality.

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Amarantha: Wow, you guys sure love Wolfe.

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Susan: What do you mean? The canon characters or the OC's. If it's the canon characters, of course I will. I'm not sure about the OC's. I might several ficlets from their POV in which Harry and co are secondary characters, but only if you guys want to read it.

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whitetiger: I like the movies, but they're not an obsession.

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Foxfur: Happy Birthday.

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Bluemoon2: If neither of them gets killed.

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weirdo_without_a_clue: Noooo, she really does love him. How could you think that of out ickle Ginny?

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Yak-Cool: Imagine how weird it must have been for Londoners to read the canon books. :-)


	34. Showdown at Lake Superior

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Showdown at Lake Superior

Chapter 34

"Potter."

Harry had been about to sit down on the bench set against the inner hull of the Cruiser, when Faust beckoned him over. He had a feeling why he was to join the captain on the upper deck. Faust probably wanted to make sure he knew what he had to do when the time came.

He joined Faust on the levitation surface, which took them to the upper level in the blink of an eye. It was as if a Portkey were taking them somewhere, and if it hadn't had special charms to keep its two occupants on, Harry and Faust would have been plastered all over the ceiling. Though Harry knew that they levitation surfaces had never failed yet, he was still uneasy about it.

Faust immediately headed for the monitoring station behind the two pilots' seats. "Janos, have you established the up-link to the Orbital Eyes?"

Gaal nodded. "I have three of them keeping a geo-synchronous orbit with their lenses on the Laketown Islands. I think they've set up a few of those anti-magic field generators."

"Why do you think so?"

"I'm getting some odd readings that could possibly be a teleportation block, and I just saw footage of a wizard waving his wand with no effect. That gives it away, wouldn't you think?"

"But they'll be slaughtered!" Rachel Esklove said anxiously. Unlike Ginny, who would be down on the ground in the thick of the fighting, she'd be staying on the Cruiser, and with good reason. Of the trainees who weren't in the Martial Division, Ginny was the best fighter. Rachel, on the other hand, would obviously require some more training for her to have a fighting chance against the Dark Trolls. That's why she'd been posted on the Cruiser, where she'd be more effective due to her considerable skill as a pilot.

Gaal nodded. "And from what Donovan told me, I thought this fellow had something against unfair fights."

"But does he see it as such?" Faust grumbled. "The telemetry here shows about sixty Dark Trolls and an assortment of monstrous foot-soldiers, about four hundred of them. I'm guessing they're flesh golems."

"They are," Gaal confirmed. "What's your point?"

"No one can do magic with a wand now. He levelled the playing field…perfectly fair."

"Well, since you put it that way," Gaal said wryly.

"Did you find out how that army got from Agua Caliente to Laketown without us detecting them?"

"No. The orbital eyes didn't pick up any residual teleportation magic, so we can rule out Portkeys. I know Yamato can make very stealthy Portkeys, but a mass usage would have left _some_ traces."

"Any chance the anti-magic field generators are covering those traces?"

"There is a chance. If that's the case, the generators have to be a new kind. The ones we captured couldn't do that."

"They can block magic, but not traces of magic?" Harry frowned.

"That's right," Gaal said. "Magic binding runes essentially trap residual magic and keep it sharp and usable for as long as the runes last. Given the fact that the generators use these runes for power, distorting their function would effectively shut the gadget down. But maybe Yamato found a way around that. Or maybe they sent a small team on ahead to set up a portal, like the one they used to invade Caer Sidi, although I have no idea how they'd have succeeded in doing so without anyone on the island noticing."

"At the moment it doesn't matter how they got there," Faust said. "We have to concentrate on making them leave."

The communications mirror signalled an incoming transmission. Lieutenant Riyadi's face appeared on the screen.

"Aceng, so you'll co-ordinate things with da Silva from the _Zephyrus_?" Faust asked, clearly surprised that one of his best fighters wouldn't be at ground zero with the rest of them.

Riyadi looked unhappy. "I'd rather be in the thick of things, captain."

"We all do what we must," Faust sighed. "Is the fleet ready?"

"We are ready to leave. The _Eurus_ isn't, but the orders to move out still stand."

"Then we leave," Faust said. "The co-ordination will be in your hands until Ironheart arrives. The _Zephyrus_ is in the lead."

Riyadi nodded in acknowledgement, and the connection was broken. At least, the connection on the screen was broken. Rachel and Lieutenant Gaal were getting instructions through their headsets, and Rachel relayed the information to Faust.

"Ranger da Silva recommends that the Cruisers Portkey a few miles shy of the islands instead of right on top of them, since Dark Trolls can see through invisibility."

Faust seemed to agree, and Harry did too. Perhaps the trolls would have a weapon powerful enough to knock the Cruisers out of the sky. He knew his double had succeeded in doing so with a series of powerful curses. If his double had been strong enough, the dark general could also potentially be. Thankfully the anti-magic generators worked to their advantage that way, and he wouldn't be able to use his wand.

However, this still left Wolfe…Harry bit his lip. He couldn't regard Wolfe as his friend anymore. The prophecy had to be taken seriously. The parasite—though altered owing to Wolfe's efforts—was still in charge and would stop at nothing to do Harry in. For all practical purposes, Wolfe wasn't there anymore.

Harry returned to his former train of thought. Though the parasite wouldn't be able to use his wand, there were still some ways to threaten the Cruisers if they flew low enough. In fact, the enemy would probably be prepared to do just that, since the Cruisers were the Rangers' only means to reach Laketown. 

He blinked, surprised to find that they were no longer underground. He'd been so lost in thought that he'd been oblivious to their takeoff. The other Cruisers were forming up around the _Notus_. Then they faded from sight, though Harry could still see their representations on the console in front of him.

"Portkey mode in three seconds," Rachel reported. "Two…one…transport!"

The outside world spun around them, and the next thing Harry saw was a column of smoke rising from the northern island. Lots of tiny boats were crossing the narrow gap of lake separating the island from the southern island. Harry also saw lots of broomsticks, and even large carpets in the air, loaded with frightened wizards. Unable to Apparate, the wizards were fleeing any way they could.

"I can use the Cruiser's own detectors now that we're close enough," Gaal said. "Complete teleportation block on each island confirmed. The other Cruisers are reporting the same thing."

"And Captain, Clara recommends that your team should be deployed first to form a buffer-zone between the fleeing townsfolk and the aggressors at the marina, and to be the bridgehead for further landings."

"I expect Clara will have difficulty communicating with the troops on the ground," Faust said. He walked over to a mirror and quickly tapped a few buttons on the console. Tarana Oliseh's face stared back at them seconds later.

"Captain Faust?"

"Put me through to da Silva."

"At once, sir," Oliseh nodded, and the image soon shifted to a dark-skinned likeness of Petunia Dursley.

"Sir," Clara da Silva said gravely.

"It just occurred to me that our communication will likely be a problem," Faust said.

"The same thing occurred to me, sir," she answered nervously. "I have already used the Orbital Eyes to capture images from the surface of both islands, but there are no signs of anything resembling the known designs of anti-magic devices. They must be under some sort of camouflage. Or perhaps they have been moved into the vacated buildings. A solution would be to have a small team disembark in the village and conduct the search. However, there is considerable danger to that plan due to the presence of Dark Trolls. A slower but safer solution would be to drop everyone off first. Then we could use the _Typhoon_ and the _Hurricane _to clear a path through the enemy ranks and allow for a larger force to enter the village."

"Will the Cruisers still be able to communicate with each other?" Faust asked.

"Yes, but the quality will be poor. Our detectors suggest that the anti-magic influence isn't diminishing farther away from the surface. However, the Cruisers' communications devices are strong enough to pierce the interference." Clara paused and briefly looked away from the screen before she continued. "Lieutenant Riyadi wants to know if he ought to join you."

Faust smiled and shook his head. "Once the generators are out of commission, you'll still need someone to validate your recommendations and turn them into orders. I'll send up a blue smoke plume once we've consolidated our position on the ground. Then the _Typhoon_ and the _Hurricane_ can make their runs."

"Yes, sir."

"_Notus _out," Faust said, and ended the transmission. Then he pressed another button on the console. "Did you hear the new game plan, Vassily?"

"We did," Lieutenant Poliakoff's voice came back through a speaker.

"Good, I was afraid I hadn't correctly linked the transmission to the speakers down there. I never quite got the hang of all these odd gadgets. I'm coming down," Faust said, and beckoned for Harry to follow him again.

Harry followed, but when he stepped onto the surface it didn't lower itself to the deck below.

"I have some last minute tips for you," Faust said. "Find the dark general as soon as you can. If he's out of the fight, the trolls will lose their focus and they'll be easier to deal with. Best case scenario, you'll be the trolls' new leader and we can turn them against the flesh golems. We're outnumbered, and the shorter the battle, the better it is for us.

"And when you're fighting the general, try not to think for too long about what you're going to do next. According to Ironheart's source, the parasite couldn't gain access to Wolfe's Mind Reading ability or his memory, but that information is about a week old so it may not be accurate any longer. Don't take any unnecessary chances. You've sparred against Wolfe, so you know how his gift can help him anticipate your actions."

Harry nodded. It was like being the Seeker of the weaker Quidditch team. If the game lasted too long, the other team would build up an insurmountable lead. "I understand."

Faust nodded solemnly, and Harry's stomach lurched as the levitation surface dropped to the lower deck in the blink of an eye. He blinked into the red light that lit up the deck. It was the signal for the crew to get ready to disembark in a hurry, and Harry saw his colleagues doing some last-minute equipment checks. 

Harry quickly examined his own equipment. He tied the pouch contained four pre-charmed Curse Capsules to his belt. One was a Dementor repellent filled with positive energy. It wouldn't destroy the Dementor but it would keep the area clear for a few minutes. The other three contained explosive magic that could be used against anything solid.

Then he went over his crossbow and made sure all the mechanisms were working properly. The numbers behind a little window on the extra-dimensional casing clipped onto the underside of the crossbow indicated it contained a full load of fifty bolts. It would tick down to zero as Harry spent his arrows. Unfortunately most of them contained a stunning charge, which would be useless against their enemies. The trolls were simply too strong to be affected, and the flesh golems consisted of dead-body parts, making them impervious to stunners also. There were only ten bolts tipped with Erumpment fluid and Harry knew he couldn't afford to miss too many shots. 

Harry went over his other equipment, and when he was satisfied in his knowledge that everything was in order, he joined Faust near the ramp. The red light overhead began to blink, telling them that the ramp was about to be lowered. Faust donned the helm, somewhat resembling an ancient Corinthian design. The largest gem, a sapphire located on the metal strip covering part of the nose, briefly lit up. 

The captain spoke. "All right people, you know what you have to do. Protect the townsfolk for the time being, until we can find and destroy the anti-magic field generators so we can use our wands and communicate with the Cruisers again."

The murmured acknowledgements were drowned out by the hum of the ramp going down and were replaced by horrified gasps as they were presented with the outside situation. Dozens of bodies littered the ground, and Harry saw a witch who'd desperately been trying to keep ahead of a troll being cut down. Blood sprayed from her back as her pursuer's weapon connected. She collapsed, her spine having been severed, and she lost her grip on a bundle she'd been cradling. It slid out of her reach as she fell on her side. She feebly reached out to it, though it was painfully clear that she would never reach it. Then the troll dealt the finishing blow, not savagely as one might expect, but with calm precision. It focussed its attention on the bundle next, and raised its heavily reinforced boot, intending to crush the bundle.

Harry saw a tiny arm stick out of the bundle…a baby's arm! He reacted almost without conscious thought. What little conscious thought he'd been entertaining had been awash in his white-hot fury and Harry felt his power boil within himself, seeking release. He drew the Phoenix Clan katana with inhuman speed and had it level and aiming at the troll in the blink of an eye. The runes on the blade had already been glowing an angry orange hue when the sword was being drawn, and now the whole blade was alight, resembling a rigid flame. A narrow gout of fire roared out at the troll, slamming against the troll's chest-plate, upsetting its precarious one-legged balance and sending it flying backwards. Without waiting for Faust's signal, Harry ran down the ramp and headed straight towards the troll.

The sheer force of the magical flame's impact onto its armour had thrown the troll back ten feet. Upon its landing it had slid back a further twenty feet in the gravel-strewn soil, drawing a furrow that led to where it was roaring in pain and rage, struggling to pull off its chest-plate which was glowing like something in the process of being forged. Harry saw that it wasn't entirely solid anymore. The metal gave way like jelly when the troll's fingers tried to grab it. Undeterred by the incredibly foul stench of burning troll skin filling his nostrils, Harry continued to advance on his foe. All he could think of was to make the troll pay.

Sprinting towards the troll, Harry reached out and channelled his magic through his splayed fingers. With a clutching gesture he summoned the troll's helm, ripping it off its ugly head. Moments later he was beside the startled troll with his sword held in an inverted grasp. There had been no blood when the troll's head was separated from its shoulders. The blade had cauterised the wound.

Then the battle really erupted all around Harry. Led by Faust, the other Rangers surged past his position in a semicircle, quickly dispatching a handful of flesh golems that must have been part of the trolls' advance guard. A large shadow flitted over the battlefield. It looked nothing like a Cruiser's, so believing it could be a threat, Harry briefly diverted his attention from the events unfolding around him. It was Matt, standing on the back of a huge mechanical griffin, steering it with a pair of reigns. 

The griffin landed some one hundred and fifty feet in front of Harry, and Matt slid onto its back. The griffin seemed to transform upon touching the ground, its transformation partially accommodated by its design, and partially accomplished by transfiguration. The familiar form of Anzu emerged, and the giant suit of armour drew its massive sword and began to clear a path through the incoming surge of flesh golems, each one looking more grotesque that the other, many with four arms and wicked looking weapons built into their bodies.

More Rangers now sprinted past Harry, moving to join the ones that had already landed. They had to be from the _Zephyrus_. He caught glances of several pale-looking Intel Analysts who had intellectually been aware of the possibility that this day would come and had trained for it, but hadn't really been expecting it. Heidi and Ginny ran side by side, their crossbows at the ready but pointed at the ground. They too looked frightened in the face of these overwhelming odds, no doubt aware that only ten or so of their arrows would be effective against the type of enemy they were facing. With no more than sixty Rangers fighting on the ground, each having ten useful arrows, the margin of error wasn't too big.

Harry felt marginally better when he saw Chin and Gaitan, two Fifth Class Combat Rangers, right on Ginny and Heidi's heels and headed in the same direction. They had their fair share of experience and would look after Ginny and Heidi, who weren't really in their element here.

His eyes scanned the hordes of approaching golem foot soldiers, trying to see if the dark general was among them. All he saw was a mass of ill-proportioned creatures, steadily trudging towards the Rangers' positions. Then their ranks suddenly opened up allowing about seven creations resembling humanoid upper bodies on ostrich legs to dart through the formation. They occasionally leapt from side to side as they ran, proving to be very hard targets. Several precious arrows tipped with Erumpment fluid were fired at them, all falling wide of the mark. 

"Just standing around, Potter?" a voice screamed over the crackle of Khan's Elemental War Fork as it spit bolts of lighting that cut down three of the monsters, leaving harmlessly twitching and blackened carcasses. Coming in low over the battlefield, the _Typhoon _raced towards them and opened up with two large cannons that resembled Muggle machine-guns with spinning barrels. Tiny explosions followed as the ammunition hit the ground, hurling clouds of smoke and chunks of debris in the air all around the 'ostrich-men.' When the dust cleared, only bits and pieces of them were left.

"You have to love air support," the same voice said, now much closer. 

Harry turned around. Carlos Montalban, Nassir al-Hasan and Rashid Farouk skidded to a halt in front of him, sending some pebbles clattering against Harry's armour. 

"I have my own mission objective," Harry said, answering Montalban's earlier question. "Problem is, there's no sign of him."

"You won't be able to see anything from here. This is the lowest lying ground. The islands are small, so you might be able to spot him through your V.E.G.'s if you find one of the higher spots. Odds are the general will be directing his troops from such a location too," Montalban said.

"Or we can fly," Farouk proposed.

"Got a broomstick handy?"

Farouk unclasped a belt that had kept a long tube strapped to his back. "No, but I have a carpet. I can help you look for him."

Harry quickly ran the scenario through his head. Taking to the air would certainly help a lot, but carpets were less manoeuvrable than broomsticks and provided a larger target profile for their enemies on the ground. The village on the island was burning, which meant that the enemy had means of setting things alight—possibly flaming arrow. If they were hit by one of those while they were far away from the frontline, they'd go down amidst a sea of enemies. "It'll be dangerous. If we get hit—"

"We won't win this if we don't take any risks," al-Hassan said. He too carried a flying carpet, and unrolled it in the air with a mighty heave. 

"Montalban and I will try to dissuade the enemy from taking shots at us," Farouk said.

"All right, let's go." Harry jumped onto the carpet after al-Hassan had settled in near the front, where the carpet was steered. They immediately took off, and the other two Rangers followed them, flying at a slightly lower altitude. He dug into a pouch strapped to his thigh and extracted his Vision Enhancement Goggles and quickly pulled them over his eyes. He refrained from setting magnification, since a magnified view would rob him of his panoramic view. Wolfe's shape would be easy enough to spot amidst the trolls and monstrous golems.

Bobbing and weaving as much as possible to prevent them from becoming too tempting a target, al-Hassan cruised over the marching golems, which paid them no attention. All the while, Harry frantically scanned the higher ground for signs of anyone directing the troops. He even tried to pick out Wolfe's form amidst the marching golems, but to no avail. At one point, they passed a cluster of trolls wielding oversized crossbows, but an explosion behind them a few seconds later told Harry that Montalban had lobbed an explosive capsule in their midst.

Harry spared a moment to see how the battle was going. The Rangers were pinned down where they had started. Captain Faust obviously was too hard pressed to attempt a drive into the ruined buildings of the village to destroy the anti-magic field generators. But otherwise they seemed to be doing all right, and he saw lots of unmoving golems on the ground. Harry estimated that about two hundred or so had been destroyed, and he could see the last few golems at the end of the formation, and soon those too were destroyed when the _Hurricane_ fell upon them in an opportunistic strafing run. Gudrun was giving them hell.

Seconds later, the grim sense of satisfaction he'd felt from the Cruiser's actions turned to horror when a luminous red projectile slammed into the side of the _Hurricane_, tearing through the shielding-charm as if it were a soap bubble. It tumbled end over end three times before it landed on its back with a deafening smack, bleeding off its momentum as it skidded over the grassy ground, flattening a squad of golems that had been in its path.

Harry whipped his head around, tracing the path of the projectile until his gaze rested on a large ship sitting on a low cloud, maybe at some fifteen hundred feet. The ship's design was different from the Cruisers. It looked like an old Muggle sailing ship, with some important differences that characterised its magical origins. It had no visible masts, its hull was a glossy black, and along the entirety of the hull long legs stuck out, giving it a vague resemblance to a centipede. The legs actually moved. They weren't just swaying in the wind. Some merely twitched, but others curled up and unfurled themselves like fingers on the impatient hand of an ancient and decidedly malevolent sky-god. Also, it was huge, much longer than any Muggle sailing ship. It had to be over a thousand feet long, though it was hard to tell exactly how big it was from this vantage point.

"Where did that thing come from? How come the Cruisers didn't detect it?"

"Something is coming out of the ship." Al-Hassan pointed to two cage-like contraptions, each carried by two strange-looking dragons. They resembled Ukrainian Ironbellies, but something was very wrong with them. The creatures were descending to the surface rapidly.

"They are not living dragons," Montalban yelled over from the other carpet. 

Harry saw he was right. They had been turned into flesh golems too. About six months ago there had been some reports about dragon poaching and the mysterious disappearance of ten dragons in the Ukraine. Ten dragons in one go had been a serious blow to dragon conservation efforts, and the news had made front-pages all over the world. "Nassir, get me closer. Whatever those dragons are flying down there doesn't deserve a soft landing."

They shot off in the dragons' direction. The first pair was too close to the ground, and Harry knew they could no longer do any significant damage there. But the other pair of dragons was still fairly high in the air and a drop would likely do lots of damage. Harry drew an explosive capsule out of his pouch and screamed over for Montalban to do the same. He signalled that he'd take out the first dragon, leaving it up to Farouk and Montalban to deal with the second. Taking no chances, they approached the dragons diagonally from behind. It had to be timed perfectly. Harry signalled for Farouk to swoop down towards the dragon at the back. It had to be hit first, since it could potentially harm Harry and al-Hassan.

"Go," he said, a second after the other two had departed, hoping that Montalban wouldn't miss. He gave the halves of the capsule a half-twist to activate it and hurled it where the dragon's right wing joined its rump. Al-Hassan veered away, and just in time too. There was an explosion behind Harry that threw him onto his hands and knees—the effects of Montalban's grenade. Then his own capsule exploded, and a quick glance over the edge of the carpet showed the dragon plummeting to the ground, ineffectually flapping one wing. If al-Hassan had lingered a bit longer, they'd have been caught between the shock waves of both explosions.

The dragons and their cargo continued to fall. The other dragon still had both wings, though the right one had a gaping hole. Between the resulting loss of lift, the added weight of the other dragon and the original weight it had been carrying, it didn't stand a chance. That container ended up hitting the ground at the same moment as the other one landed safely. The two dragons, each weighing about six tonnes, landed on top of their cargo, crushing it and trapping whatever had been inside. The other one fell open, exposing fifty or so flesh golems. They were reserve troops.

Montalban shouted and pointed upwards. Three more pairs of dragons, each carrying a container between them, were rapidly descending.

"Go up!" Harry shouted. "We'll go for another pass." Yet he knew that three at once was impossible. They had more time in this instance, but he knew that despite their best efforts, at least one would make it down safely.

They gained altitude rapidly, and Montalban pointed to the highest pair of dragons on the left of the formation. Then he pointed to the wreck below. Harry understood. It was to be the same drill. Farouk and Montalban first, and al-Hassan and himself a second later. At least, assuming that they wouldn't be torn to shreds before they got a chance to do so. Harry saw the dragons that had landed safely winging their way towards them and gaining fast. 

"Evasive climb to the left, fast!" Harry shouted to al-Hassan, who complied at once, and Harry realised he had made a terrible mistake. The other two Rangers were still unaware of their danger, and al-Hassan's climb was carrying them out of earshot. He screamed a warning at Montalban, who gave him a puzzled look and took precious seconds to look down.

When the finally saw the dragon coming, greenish fire had already erupted from the creature's mouth. Moments later it washed across the underside of the carpet, the sheer amount of fiery plasma causing the carpet to buck and throw off its occupants.

Harry could only watch on in horror as they plummeted towards their doom. Diving after them was useless, because the carpet could hold three at most, and because he still had his own foe to deal with. Gritting his teeth, he forced himself to look away from his falling friends and turned his attention to the dragons chasing him. The one that had killed Montalban and Farouk had turned to chase him too, but was too far away to be a direct threat. The one closest to them, however, was threatening enough.

"Swerve left," he shouted, when he saw green fire fill the creature's mouth. His pilot reacted promptly and the gout of fire fell wide of the mark, heating up the air and creating some turbulence. It was only a temporary reprieve, and Harry knew he had to do something quickly. His instinct told him that his sword might not hold the answer this time. Dragon hide was very resistant to fire and heat, so a flame attack would do very little damage.

An idea sneaked into his brain. It would be insane, but if he could throw an explosive capsule into the creature's mouth, guiding it with a wand-less Banishing Charm…it was worth a try. He took his second capsule from his pouch and waited for the right moment. He saw the smoke beginning to seep through the dragon's jagged teeth and nostrils. It would happen any minute now…

When the dragon reared back its head, Harry twisted the two halves of the capsule. When it lowered its jaw, he threw it at the monster, concentrating on letting it float straight into the dragon's mouth. A feeling of grim triumph briefly filled him when the capsule disappeared into the flames of the creature's mouth. The creature's head exploded and it dropped from the sky.

Harry noticed that the other dragon was nowhere to be seen. Frantically, he searched the sky. Then he remembered that the dragon liked to come up from below, exploiting a blind spot. He leaned over the edge of the carpet so he could look straight down and saw that it was too late. Its jaws were already open, revealing the green fire lighting up the oral cavity.

"Hard—" he'd begun to yell, when something black slammed into the dragon from above. Its rider's golden locks whipping behind him furiously. Matt and Anzu, Harry realised with relief.

The dragon's aim had been thrown off by the collision and the pillar of fire missed al-Hassan's carpet completely. When Anzu pulled back, the dragon fell to the Earth. Harry saw its wings were missing.

Matt looked up at them, but the cocky smile Harry had expected to see wasn't there. Matt's eyes were red and puffy, and tears were leaking out of them. He just gave Harry a grim nod before Anzu swerved away.

Harry's stomach churned unpleasantly. Of course, Gudrun had been on the _Hurricane_. He looked down at the smoking wreck, hoping that she had somehow survived it. Harry had wanted to call out to Matt and tell him to wait, thinking that he could help them prevent the other landings. However, when he looked for the dragons he saw that it was much too late. They were only a few dozen feet away from the ground now. One hundred and fifty more troops would march on the Rangers' position.

He gazed over to the site. They were still okay, but with only the _Typhoon_ providing support they were under more strain, not to mention the fact that they would begin to run out of effective ammunition soon. Now there was no chance at all that they'd ever reach the anti-magic generators in time.

Harry briefly contemplated going down and looking for them himself, but as he thought about the dangers more and more, he began to wonder whether they were indeed somewhere down there. What if they were in the large ship and their influence was somehow projected to the surface. Clara had said that the quality of the connection between the Cruisers would be poor even at higher altitudes. What if that meant that the interference in fact came from above?

"Nassir, I think I need to be on that ship. That's where the anti-magic generators are."

"Are you sure?"

"I have a hunch."

"All right, then we'll—" Al-Hassan stopped in mid sentence, making Harry wonder if anything was wrong. His question was answered when he saw some the ship's 'legs' grow and extend fifteen hundred feet down to the island. Shadows were gliding down along the legs like firemen.

"Dementors!" Harry groaned. "Damn, we have to get on that ship."

"With the Dementors?" al-Hassan asked uncertainly. 

"I'm willing to take that risk. If you don't, that's fine. Just give me your explosives."

"We're both going!" al-Hassan said resolutely, and directed the carpet into a steep climb, away from the ship.

Harry was about to ask what he was doing when he realised that al-Hassan was going to use cloud cover. If this ship had detectors like the Cruisers did, the manoeuvre wouldn't do them any good. But at least it would conceal them from anyone on deck.

They were in luck when they spotted a hatch near the stern of the ship, and al-Hassan quickly steered them through while Harry held his sword at the ready to deal with any welcoming committee. Harry hoped that the ship's bridge was close, though since there was no rudder for the helm to be connected to, this wouldn't necessarily be the case.

Harry kept a watchful eye out while al-Hassan rolled up his carpet. Then they carefully proceeded deeper into the ship, communicating with hand-signals only. After less than a minute, they heard someone coming. The run-in was solved quickly and silently with a blowgun al-Hassan carried. The toxin inside knocked the witch out before she even felt the sting of the dart.

"We need to tie her up with something."

"Her shoelaces," Harry suggested, and when the witch was safely bound, al-Hassan drew two vials from his pouch.

He smirked when he noticed Harry's inquisitive look. "The dart's counter agent and Veritaserum!"

"Why d'you carry Veritaserum around?" Harry asked.

"Force of habit, I suppose. I used to be an Intel Field Operative before I transferred to the Martial Division."

"Let's hope she speaks English," Harry said. 

He suspected that English would likely be the common language on the ship, but there was no way to be certain. He thought the witch looked Caribbean, and he was proven right when they interrogated her. She was from Cuba; she spoke with a heavy Hispanic accent. Harry made a silent prayer of thanks to Lady Luck when the witch revealed the location of the generators. Apparently there were four of them. It was also fortunate that the witch revealed herself to be someone who had voluntarily joined Anastasiou's organisation. If she'd been an unwilling slave, it would have complicated matters tremendously. The revelation also reassured Harry that she wasn't immune to Veritaserum, like the woman in Japan.

After knocking out the witch and hiding her in the first dark corner they came upon, Harry and al-Hassan continued onwards, following the directions she had given them. They were forced to dispatch another wizard who stumbled upon them, and having learnt from the mistakes made in Japan, Harry decided to interrogate the wizard too to see if the stories added up. 

Harry kept hoping that the wizards weren't on too tight a schedule. If they were, they'd be missed and others would come looking for them. Of course, given the situation on the ground, Harry knew that it was probably idle hope.

Then, all of the sudden, the ship shuddered and lurched, slamming Harry and al-Hassan into the wall.

*

They'd finished loading the special weapon into the hold of the _Eurus_, though it had taken much longer than they'd planned. Ron knew, as all those present did, that ten minutes were an eternity in the heat of battle. He hoped that the others were all right, and that there weren't any Dementors.

"Move it, Akbar," Dario Valiente said.

"We have to be careful with this thing," Akbar Wirawan replied.

"Be quiet, both of you," Bo Hwang snapped, giving his Indonesian and Bolivian counterparts reproving looks.

"Are you artificers always this cranky?" Ron asked

"You're not helping, Weasley," Hwang said, not looking at him. "Slide it a little to the left and hold it steady…that's right. Weasley, can you pull the lever next to you?"

There was only one lever there, something Ron hadn't seen at the same spot in the other Cruisers. He guessed it was the mechanism of the large clamps that hung from the ceiling. He pulled the lever, and the clamps came down, grabbing onto the drum and hoisting it off the hovering surface it had been lying on.

"Okay, now press the green button in the top left corner."

Ron pressed it, and several joints along the arms of the clamps locked up. "Is it secure now?"

"It'll have some give for any inertia that isn't absorbed by our compensators. Other than that, we're good to go."

"Are you sure that other weapon you've installed works properly?" Ron was a bit worried, because he'd seen them still working on the gattling cannons less half an hour ago.

"The charms are intact," Dario said rolling his eyes. "There's no way to verify it, though. We can hardly test them in here, can we?"

"I suppose it is a good idea if we test it outside before we launch into Portkey mode," Akbar said.

Ron heard the clattering of boots on the stone floor. Quist and Commander Ironheart were running over to the Cruiser. 

"Quickly, start her up. We have to go!" Ironheart shouted.

Hwang and Akbar quickly ran to the levitation surface, which hoisted them up to the upper deck in the blink of an eye. Before Commander Ironheart and Quist clambered onto the ramp, the Cruiser had already hummed to life. The ramp began to close the moment Ironheart and Quist stepped into the Cruiser and Ron saw that the Cruiser was beginning to take off. Quist drew his wand and quickly summoned the cowboy hat that had blown off his head during his sprint. It zipped through an aperture just before the ramp closed completely.

Quist heaved a sigh of relief as he jammed the hat onto his head. Then they all crowded onto the levitation surface and found themselves on the upper deck a heartbeat later. Ron caught a glimpse of the rocky ceiling continuing to open up as they rose through it. Hwang hadn't even waited for the ceiling to open up completely.

"Very good," Ironheart praised. "Prepare for Portkey mode."

"Already done," Akbar said. Then he turned to Dario Valiente, who had plopped down into a seat behind Ron and Commander Ironheart. It had recently been installed in this Cruiser. The _Hurricane _and _Typhoon_ already had the fourth seat, which was where the weapons were ideally operated. "Well?"

"Any minute now…yes, it's activated. Lowering the cannons..."

Dario loosed a short salvo, and a cloud of glowing pellets shot towards the sea, exploding on impact and sending pillars of water spattering up.

"I hope there aren't any merfolk down there," Ron said.

"There weren't. I'd have seen them in my sights. Our detectors extend sixty feet under the surface and the damage range of the ammunition I used was no deeper than twenty feet."

"Have you got more powerful ammunition?" Ironheart asked.

"No sir, this is the strongest we've got. Only the _Typhoon _and _Hurricane_ have magic missile launchers."

"Of course, I forgot." Ironheart sighed. "I wish I'd listened to Nehanda. She suggested a full armament of the normal Cruisers last year. I reckon she saw this mess coming before I did."

"Why the extra haste for takeoff, sir?" Ron asked.

"This is why," Quist said. He'd take the seat at the main detection and communications console. He leaned back, allowing Ron to see the mirror screen. "There's also an anti-magic field in place. Our people can't use their wands."

The images were from the Orbital Eyes. A big flying ship dominated the largest the image. A second screen showed the fighting on the ground. There were many monstrous things making their way over to the Rangers, and small groups of Dark Trolls moved among their formations. 

"Transporting!" Hwang said. The image on the screen in front of Ron flickered a little, before returning to normal.

"Never mind the mirror," Quist said. "Look, it's right there!"

Meanwhile, chatter from the various Cruisers reached their sensors. Ron thought he recognised Gaal's voice in "…too many golems…" The panicky voice of Cirilo Roverano rang over the static filled speakers next. "…repeat, the _Hurricane_ is down!" 

"That's thing's got some serious teeth! It took down the _Hurricane_ with one shot," Ron said, amazed. 

"Our Cruisers can't repel firepower of that magnitude," Akbar said.

"Its hull is organic, or covered in some organic material," Hwang frowned. "At least, that's what the detectors are telling me. They could be malfunctioning because of the interference."

"They aren't," Ironheart said. "I've seen that before on Tebos. They have a gland that secretes a mucous which perfectly bends light around its body. Usually the mucous can't be seen when the Tebo isn't using it, because of its fur. But when the fur is pulled off, you can see it."

"Where'd you learn that?" Ron asked.

"School. I imagine the Magical Beast Defense League wouldn't allow such treatment of Tebos in this day and age, but in my day such traumatic experiments on animals was quite common." The commander's gaze had never left the scene of the battle as he casually talked about his schooldays. His eyes narrowed. "The ship is manoeuvring. It may be trying to get its weapons to bear on us."

"Damn, the ship's sending down Dementors!" Quist reported.

"Incoming!" Akbar warned. A large, red ball was headed their way.

Dario roared, and the comparatively small pellets that made up their own ammunition shot out to meet the incoming projectile. It was effective. The large red ball exploded, buffeting the _Eurus _in a mighty shock wave, but doing little else.

"What the hell is that?" Quist asked, pointing at a noxious black cloud that was being formed by about half of the ship's legs spitting out black fumes. "Poisoned cloud?"

Ron shook his head. The Dark Trolls probably were the enemy's best troops, and unlike the golems, they too needed to breathe. "No. I don't think the enemy would sacrifice his trolls like that. The cloud probably serves to block out the sun and make things more pleasant for the Dementors."

Ironheart nodded. "I agree." 

"Should we get ready to deploy our Patronus Bomb?"

"Not yet," Ron and Ironheart said in unison.

"I'd like to wait until we're certain they're all on the ground so we can catch them all in the blast," Ironheart said.

"Once the black cloud spreads enough we won't be able to see what's going on down there," Quist said. "We won't know how close the lead Dementors are to our people."

Ron glanced at the enemy ship. Some Dementors were still sliding down its legs, though their numbers seemed to be lessening. However, the cloud was now blocking their view of the ground. "Quist, get me the _Zephyrus_."

"Uh…" Quist glanced around his console and hesitantly pressed a few keys. "Got 'em."

Clara's face appeared on the flickering mirror screen. She was coughing. The _Zephyrus'_ bridge seemed to be filled with smoke. "It's good to see you people. You got here just in time. Look out for that ship."

"Are you—" Ron stopped, having to brace himself against the console to stay on his feet. Dario had intercepted another attack from the ship. "Yeah, we'll watch out. Are you hit?"

"We only took a graze, not a direct hit like the _Hurricane_. But we're still messed up. It seems to be leaving us alone now. I bet it's because the ship is now concentrating on you."

"Climb and roll to starboard!" Dario ordered. The ship shook with under the shock of another close by explosion.

"Close calls these shock waves may be, but they're still nibbling away at our shields," Akbar warned. "We can't take much more of this."

Ron took it to heart and decided to get to the point. "Clara, we need you to be our eyes and call for the drop when you feel the Dementors are in the optimal strike range."

"If we have to keep dodging, you won't be able to drop anything," Hwang said.

"Clara, can you get someone to keep them busy for us?" Ron asked.

"One second," Clara's face vanished for a second or two. When she returned, her image only occupied half the screen, while Captain Yee's appeared on the other half.

"If I may," Ironheart stepped in front of Ron. "Li-Mei, when we give you the signal, I want you to make a run against that ship."

Ron was beginning to feel sick to his stomach. Though Captain Yee didn't complain, he could see that she wasn't thrilled about attacking that ship head on. Another shock to the _Eurus _reminded Ron why. But what worried him most was that Hermione was on the _Typhoon_. 

"I'm not seeing any new Dementors coming through the clouds," Clara said.

Ron looked out if the main viewport, but saw nothing. They were facing away from the ship. He glanced at the console instead, hoping to see what was happening with the help of the images from the Orbital Eyes. Clara was right. The last of the Dementors had gone down.

"Right, it looks as though we can—" Ironheart couldn't finish his sentence. Another shock, much more violent than the previous ones, rocked the ship. Ron fell flat on his behind, and only Quist's reflexes saved Ironheart from a similar fate. They heard an ominous metallic bang on the lower deck.

"You let that one get too close!" Akbar yelled.

"Do you think you can do better?" Dario replied heatedly.

"Ranger Valiente, concentrate. You're all that stands between us and a direct hit!" Ironheart bellowed. "Hwang, what was that sound?"

"That last shock could have broken the clamps holding the Positive Energy Pulse Emitter…Patronus Bomb," Hwang clarified, seeing the clueless look Ron gave him. "Someone had better go down to see if it's still intact. The trigger is very fragile."

"I'd say it's still intact, since we didn't blow up," Quist remarked.

"Not fragile as is blowing up easily. We're not stupid. It just breaks easily because the trigger mechanism is a strip of foil that detects the proximity of negative energy. It's pretty flimsy."

"Then it isn't a very good design, is it?" Ron frowned. 

"Well, given the fact that we've conceived the theory only two weeks ago, I think it's quite impressive that we have a working weapon. We didn't have any time to improve upon it," Akbar said acidly. "I'll need help moving the bomb. Everyone who isn't needed should come down with me."

Ironheart began to issue orders. "Quist, I'll take over from you. Weasley, go with him. Activate the comm downstairs to report how things are going. Hwang, take us away from the island. We need a breather from this pounding. Ranger da Silva, Li-Mei, stay in contact and keep your eyes peeled for further attacks. You might be targets again once we move out of the area."

"We'll need to devise an alternative for dropping the bomb," Hwang reported. "The ventral access hatch through which the bomb's supposed to be dropped is malfunctioning." 

Ron, Akbar and Quist hurried to the levitation surface. They found the Patronus Bomb rolling around aimlessly. The clamps, as well as the arms they'd been attached to, were broken. Ron pressed a button to allow for communication with the upper deck. Akbar cursed in his own language.

"Get a grip, man," Quist admonished, running towards the bomb to steady it and keep it from getting damaged any further. "Tell us what to do."

Akbar settled down and hurried over to help Quist. "Roll it over. I need to open this panel, so make sure it is faced upwards…"

"Were working on it," Ron spoke, looking on as Akbar pried open a panel on the bomb. The artificer's horrified expression worsened Ron's anxiety. "What's wrong?"

"The negative energy detector has torn. I don't have a replacement!"

Ron's knees were just about ready to give out when he heard that news. "Uh…sir—"

"I heard it," Ironheart's voice came warily. "It's over. We have to go down and pick up as many people as possible before the Dementors get—"

The rest of Ironheart's sentence was drowned out by Akbar's panicked yelp, following Quist's slamming his fist into the Patronus Bomb's exposed innards.

"What did you do that for?" Akbar screamed. "We all would have blown up if you'd pulled the yellow wire."

Quist gave Akbar an odd look. "You mean to tell me that this thing can still work?"

"Well, yes. The negative energy detection foil would have contracted upon detecting enough negative energy. The contraction would tug at the yellow wire. But—"

"Commander Ironheart," Quist said. "Open the ramp and get us over the island. We still have a chance."

"Understood," Ironheart replied. His voice sounded subdued.

"What are you talking about?" Akbar protested. "Didn't you hear what I said? Without the proximity detonator—"

Ron swallowed hard. Quist couldn't mean…

"I'll just have to do it by hand!" Quist said. "Shut the hell up and help me get this thing to the edge."

"Wait!" Ironheart shouted, stepping off the levitation surface. "That's my duty."

Quist glared at Ironheart. "With all due respect, that's a bad idea. Commander Nomvete would slit her wrists if something were to happen to you, and then we'd be without leadership." Then he struck at the commander, nearly faster than the eye could follow. Ironheart slumped down to the deck. Then Quist turned to Ron. "When he wakes up, tell him I'm sorry."

Ron nodded mutely.

"We'll approach the drop-zone in thirty seconds," Hwang's voice came over the speakers.

"Pull the nose of the ship up at the end of the countdown," Ron said.

"Understood. And you'd best grab a hold of something, because I'll have to turn off the gravity charms." 

Ron adjusted the volume of the sound so Hwang's countdown rang over the howling of the wind. First he tangled Commander Ironheart's arms in the netting that lined the walls. With about fifteen seconds to spare, he ran over to Quist and Akbar and helped them pull the bomb on the edge of the ramp. With only a few seconds to spare, Quist straddled the weapon, clamping it between his legs and grabbed a protrusion in the open panel.

Unsure whether Akbar had heard about Hwang's climb and the absence of magical gravity, Ron pulled him along and grabbed onto some netting. Akbar got the idea and followed his example.

The Cruiser began a steep climb, and Quist slid along the final inches of the ramp. The climb grew even steeper.

"Aaaaahoooo! Waaaahoooo!" Quist yelled, as the bomb tipped over the edge.

Ron caught his last glimpse of Quist, riding the bomb in its falling arc waving his hat over his head, celebrating in ecstatic rodeo style, before he disappeared into the black cloud. A handful of seconds later, the clouds were blown away, an intense silvery light filling the sky. The _Eurus_ shuddered as it was hit by the sudden gust of wind.

The long enemy ship, which was far less aerodynamic than the Cruisers, nearly capsized as it caught the gust all along its length.

*

"Are you okay?" Harry asked, pulling al-Hassan to his feet.

"Yes. What was that?" 

"I'm not sure."

"Come on, let's—" al-Hassan began, but fell silent for some reason. At the far end of the corridor, a black-clad figure blocked the way, holding a large bastard sword that was glowing red with the light of its runes. His breathing echoed through the corridor. 

"There must be an alternative route on the lower deck," al-Hassan whispered. "We double back and—"

"If we both run, he'll pursue." Harry unstrapped the pouch containing his last explosive capsule. "I'll hold him off." 

"But—"

"If I'm meant to win, I'll get away. It's no use waiting around for me. Go!" Harry said urgently.

"Good luck," al-Hassan said solemnly. Then he sprinted away.

Harry removed his crossbow and made like he was throwing it on the ground. But at the last instant he snapped it up, took aim, and fired as fast as the crossbow's rate of fire would allow. He unloaded fifty arrows in thirty seconds, but the dark general proved to be as able as Harry suspected he'd be, dodging the majority of the arrows with superhuman speed and deflecting a few with his sword.

Harry cast the crossbow aside and drew the Phoenix Clan katana. It was glowing again, though it was a pure and bright golden glow instead of the earlier angry orange glow. Harry suspected this was because he felt calm and collected. There was no fear, just resignation.

He mentally triggered his code word, and all the memories of the fighting techniques he'd learned in the immersion pool flooded to the forefront of his mind. Concentration, that was the way. Harry took deep, even breaths, allowing the magic to flow through him and take over his awareness.

His opponent had more reach. His sword was longer, as were his limbs. However, that wasn't necessarily an advantage in that corridor. Overhead swipes were impossible for the general's straight blade, whereas Harry's curved blade gave him more room to manoeuvre. Still, it would be difficult to execute grand, sweeping blows, even for Harry. 

His opponent seemed to know this and kept his blade in close, with the hilt covering his navel. This inner ring of defense involved quick parries instead of powerful blocks. By angling the blade's tip and picking up attacks on the lower part of the blade, attacks could be shunted aside and a riposte to the opponent's chest or stomach became a very real possibility. Though those parts of him were covered by the Graphorn hide, which was tougher that dragon's hide, he suspected that the demonic blade his opponent was wielding might be able to overcome that obstacle.

Harry set his jaw and advanced on the dark general, who had just shed his cloak. He opened the attack with a quick jab to the general's chin, who slapped the katana aside. Back and forth it went, though it went much faster that Muggles were capable of. If Harry hadn't known any better, he would've sworn he was fighting an ancient vampire. The fluidity of the general's moves was simply astounding. The swords hummed as they sliced through the air and crackled as the energies they emitted collided when the blades did.

Despite the disadvantage Wolfe's size brought, it was clear to Harry that he couldn't win in the tight confines of the corridor. A new tactic was needed. Harry inverted the grip on his sword, his left hand riding the pommel. It was simple physics. The straight sword wasn't designed to be used like that, and even more importantly, there was no way for the general to block those quick underhanded swipes effectively in the limited space. All he could do was step back and give ground. Soon they reached the end of the corridor and stepped into a rectangular shaft with stairs lining the walls.

Harry reversed his grip on the katana again and brought it into the outer guard which would enable him to block powerful slashes.

Taking advantage of the room, the general aimed a slash at Harry that would have bisected him from the right shoulder to the left hip. It came so hard and so fast that it would have been impossible for Harry to stop it with a power block. Instead, Harry let the attack come though his outer and middle rings of defense, before slightly dodging and partially knocking the blade wide of his right shoulder at the last moment. Then Harry stepped forward and slammed his shoulder into the general's chin, knocking the mask askew and limiting his vision. On pure instinct, the general reacted with a well-placed slash that would have trimmed Harry's hair at roughly the level of his earlobes had he not ducked it in time. Harry continued his downward movement by dropping into a crouch. He whipped his left leg out and scythed it through the general's legs, bashing his ankles together and dropping him onto his back.

A quick follow-up attack by bringing his blade down on the general's throat would have ended things right there. But Harry couldn't go through with it. His feelings got in the way. _Wolfe_ was under that mask. His friend to whom he owed his own life as well as Ginny's.

That brief hesitation was all the general needed, and he rolled backwards over his shoulder. Harry decided to put some distance between them. He gathered his magic into a leap that carried him over two dozen steps on the stairs. Knowing that the general would pursue, he continued to skip up the stairs until he could go no further. Only then did he spare a glance downwards and noticed that the general would catch up in a dozen rapid heartbeats. He kicked in the door, revealing three surprised wizards in what looked like the bridge.

Noticing his combat attire, they put two and two together. Harry charged and kicked the first one out through the windscreen before they got over their shock of seeing a Ranger on the doorstep. The other two managed to grab weapons of opportunity. 

The first one snatched a long piece of shattered windscreen that had landed on his console. He charged first, intending to stab Harry in the stomach, which was quite a ludicrous attempt given the fact that it would never penetrate Harry's armour. Spinning with the assault, Harry threw the wizard headfirst through the open door, where he crashed into the arriving general, knocking him back and nearly over the railing of the stairs, buying Harry another precious handful of seconds.

The second one threw his stool at Harry, who caught it, spun around and flung it back at the wizard, nailing him in the side of the head. The stool cracked into several pieces and the wizard slumped forward over his console, shoving forward a lever. Harry could feel the whole ship lurch forward in a burst of acceleration. He shoved the wizard off the console quickly slashed his sword over it, trimming the lever down to nothing. Now they'd keep heading away from Laketown.

Harry sensed an approach from behind and dove over the console. There was a cracking sound followed by a small explosion and a shower of fragments. From the corner of his eye, he saw that the console had partially been cleaved, and small flames were spreading over its surface now. The ruined console began spitting sparks in all the colours of the rainbow, as if it was filled with fireworks. The high pitched wail of a siren filled the air along with the smoke from the fire. Harry's eyes pricked and his lungs protested as the smoke began to fill them.

The quickest way out was through the broken window and Harry leapt through it without a second thought, slowing down his fall with a controlled levitation charm at the last moment. He landed next to the broken body of the wizard he'd kicked through it, and he couldn't help but feel a tinge of remorse. But knowing that he had to remain on the move and keep his wits about him, Harry darted over the windswept deck and vaulted into an open hatch that led to the lower decks.

Harry landed in what appeared to be a corridor that ran along the whole length of the ship. He ran towards the bow of the ship and darted into the first side corridor he could find. The heavy footsteps echoing behind him told Harry that the dark general was in hot pursuit. Yet he wasn't taunting Harry and trying to draw him out, like Voldemort would have done. He seemed quite content with playing Harry's game for the time being, silently stalking him like a seasoned predator would.

Time was forgotten as Harry led the dark general through the maze-like superstructure of the ship. He blinked away the sweat that poured from his forehead into his eyes. He hadn't even known he'd been sweating. His breaths sounded like they could wake up an entire neighbourhood despite his attempts to keep them as silent as possible. But he knew that was an illusion caused by the surrounding silence.

That silence was suddenly disrupted by the clanking of something on one of the metal grates that covered up shafts which led to other areas deeper in the ship. He whipped around and saw the general's helmet rolling towards him. He immediately realised that he'd been tricked, but it was still too late. Pain blossomed in the left side of his jaw and he was lifted off his feet by the sheer force of the impact. He tasted blood in his mouth.

Harry barely managed to twist his fall into a roll and ended up on one knee. He blindly brought his sword into a diagonal overhead guard, just in time to intercept a devastating stroke that would have made a real mess. His muscles trembled as they tried to sustain the block, but Harry's blade and the general's angry red blade inched closer and closer to his face. 

Four explosions in quick succession rocked the ship, making the general lose his balance and giving Harry the opportunity to shunt the attack aside and kick the general in the gut, making him tumble backward. Al-Hassan must have succeeded in his mission, and Harry drew his wand to verify his assumption. He waved it through the air as he ran, and it trailed its familiar golden sparks. Harry sheathed his sword in the scabbard on his back.

The general, now unmasked, was shaking and sweating profusely. His irises glowed purple. "You can't win!" he snarled. "Give it up, Wolfe!" the general roared. The glow faded from his eyes, and he flipped his sword over in a reverse grip. It looked as though he was going to impale himself, but at the last moment he thrust the sword halfway into the floor, putting all his weight behind it.

"W-Wolfe?" Harry stammered.

"Kill…me!" Harry saw the man's expression. It was no longer the general. It was Wolfe. He was breathing heavily, and blood had begun to seep out of his nose. "Hurry up, damn it!" Wolfe roared. He won't let me kill myself. You have to end it! I can't control him much longer. He's too strong."

Harry shook his head. There had to be another way. Wolfe was still in there. "But we've found a way to trap parasitic personalities. We can help you!"

"I'm using my last…reserves to…talk to you," Wolfe forced out the pieces of his sentence. "I'll be gone in a minute…and then he'll possess all my…m-memories and…my Mind Reading ability. I won't…be able to fight…him off anymore. Kill me!"

Harry couldn't reply. His throat was too constricted. He blinked away the tears blurring his vision.

Wolfe rapidly drew his wand. "_Avada Kedavra!_" 

Harry had immediately seen that Wolfe's aim had been off. The green beam passed inches to the left of his head. Wolfe had been trying to startle him into reacting.

"Kill me!" Wolfe pleaded once more. "You've seen how many people died already today. It was only a sample of how terrible things will become. You have to stop this monster."

Harry shook his head.

"We are Rangers!" Wolfe's pleading tone had turned to one of anger. "We walk in dark places others dare not go. We swore to fight evil, wherever it dwells, wherever it breeds. We live protecting the good and we die protecting the good. Evil dwells inside _me_ now. I intend to keep my oath, and I am holding you to yours, Ranger!"

Another violent explosion rocked the ship and flames erupted through the metal grates on the floor. Harry's ears popped with the pressure change, and he realised they had to be falling pretty quickly. The hull buckled and the floor cracked underneath their feet. A sharp metal shard that had made up the frame of the outer hull protruded through the inner hull.

Wolfe's gaze was fastened on its jagged tip while he undid the straps of his chest-plate with trembling fingers. Then he pulled something out of his shirt and kissed it. Harry recognised the golden pendant, the twin of the pendant he was wearing. Suddenly he felt it burning against his chest as Wolfe tensed in preparation to launch himself at the protruding shard.

"Noooo!" Harry screamed, running towards Wolfe. He couldn't let Wolfe die. The prophecy had to be averted. There had to be another way! 

He tackled Wolfe with inches to spare. Then he largest explosion yet occurred, and a ball of flames came rushing through the corridor, bathing everything in a golden light.

***

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Author's Note

I'm really sorry for the cliffie, people, but I had to cut the chapter off somewhere. This seemed as good a place as any. And for those of you who know your classical film comedy, yes, Quist's action was a reference to Dr Strangelove. :-)

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Gogirl: The first to review again. Please don't take the review I left for 'Rage' badly. I was only trying to help.

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Jona: Actually, Serafina's forgetfulness is only a character quirk to add colour to her character. And what does squeeness mean?

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CatatonicReaction: That's okay. I know your name, so a signature wasn't really necessary.

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Mn'M incorperated: I'm afraid you'll have to wait for the next chapter to see the prophecy unfold.

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Lady Reaper of the Shadows: Ouch, broken collarbone, painful.

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Yak-Cool: It would seem I now have you waiting for the next chapter?

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Angel of the Flames: Why would I be mad? And yeah, I have lots of plans for side stories. Whether I'll have the time to execute them is another matter.

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Jake:

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Petals: I have no idea why the Queens decided to close GT. I didn't press my beta for details, nor would she have given them if I had. By the way, I _did _answer your question, though I answered another reviewer. Sorry about that. I assumed your eyes would skim that review as well. So I didn't avoid the answer. As long as Ginny is holding back, Harry can't access his full power.

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bane: I'm don't do MSN, that's all. So it's nothing personal. The time takes to write a chapter is dependent on variables like the length of the chapter and my inspiration. Also, sometimes my betas suggest a re-write to improve bits of the chapter, so I can't really give you a good answer on that.

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nycgal: That's okay. Your life comes first.

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LadySiri: Thanks for the suggestions, but I have other plans.

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Whitetiger: is it really too much bother to include capitals and punctuation because it makes it easier for me to read the review and thanks for the review

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SaBoTaGe3p3: Am I spoiling the story? Why don't you wait for chapter 35 before making up your mind about that? :-) And Holly isn't a little girl. She's travelled through time in the Mirror Realm, and she's about 17 or 18 years old. She _is _rather innocent, yet wise enough to realise why Ginny might feel threatened.

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Julephenia: Yeah, Anastasiou's plot is out in the open for most people, so the Rangers aren't outcasts any more.

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Casual Reader: So you understand.

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Bri: This is exactly what I tried to explain about Ginny's behaviour. Thanks.

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OHGinnyfan: I might stories that centre around the OC's. 


	35. Apotheosis

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Apotheosis

Chapter 35

Draco grinned. The shared consciousness with one of his many duplicates gave him an excellent view of the events in Laketown. It seemed that Maximus had bitten off more than he could chew. He sipped his tea and looked around at the Muggles milling about on the street outside the bar.

"Muggle!"

The Muggle barkeep gave Draco an odd look. He didn't understand, but he would understand soon enough.

"Is that a new nickname you Brits have for bartenders?"

Draco chuckled, but didn't answer his question. He gestured at the people outside. "You're fortunate. I've decided to share a secret with you."

The Muggle raised his eyebrows. "Really?"

Draco nodded. "I look outside and marvel at the beauty of it all. Billions of Muggles just living their lives, oblivious. In the old days we tried to live among you. It was a disaster, so we decided to keep living right under your noses in disguise."

"What loony bin did you escape from?" the Muggle snorted. "What the hell are Muggles? Are you some kind of whacko who believes in aliens?"

Ignoring his question, Draco continued. "I'd like to share a revelation I had after my transformation. It came to me when I tried to classify your species. I realised that you are not actually mammals. Every mammal on this planet develops a natural equilibrium with the environment, but you Muggles don't. You move to an area and you multiply and multiply until every natural resource is consumed. The only way you can survive is to spread to another area. There is another organism on the planet that follows the same pattern. Do you know what it is? A virus. Muggles are a disease, a cancer of this planet. You are a plague, and we are the cure."

Draco saw the Muggle pick up one of their quaint substitutes for the Floo connection. He was probably calling the police.

"It is time for you Muggles to know and accept the truth, because I'm going to put an end to this illusion, this reality, whatever you want to call it." Draco drew his wand and pointed it at the Muggle. "I've always found it most entertaining to read those Muggle stories about Muggles having died inexplicably. The irony of the matter is that one Muggle actually found out the truth, and it was printed in one of those…what do you call them…tabloid newspapers? Yes, he found out about us, and we didn't even have to erase his memory. He was declared to be insane and locked up. I think he killed himself after a few months of having been fed mind-numbing chemicals."

"Yeah, he was probably your cellmate, wasn't he?" the Muggle sneered, pulling a firearm out from behind the counter. "Now you just sit there. The police will are on their way."

With a twitch of the wand, the Muggle weapon transformed into a serpent. It was a bit of a cliché, but Draco's father had taught him that many Muggles, like wizards, had an irrational fear of serpents. Apparently it was linked to many religious myths from around the world. 

"Oh God," the Muggle gasped, throwing the snake away.

Draco laughed. "People have been calling me that an awful lot lately. Who knows, perhaps I'll leave some Muggles alive for them to worship me and give their pitiful existences some meaning. _You_, however, won't live to see the day. _Avada Kedavra_."

He gave the dead body one last look as he pulled on his Portkey Glove. "Too bad you won't have your own article in one of the Muggle magazines. Everyone will have bowed to me by the time they'd print it." With a wiggle of his thumb and pinkie he disappeared, and reappeared in Yamato's hideout.

He found the necromancer ranting away at Wormtail, though the other wizard had no idea what Yamato was so upset about. Between his mastery of the Japanese language after assimilating a Japanese wizard, and his Mind Reading ability, Draco knew exactly what the fuss was about. He guessed he would have felt the same way… _before _his rise to godhood, that is. Yamato had secretly created an army of both mechanical and flesh golems right under Anastasiou's nose, as well as that flying ship. Maximus had known about the existence of the flesh golems and the ship, since he was supposed to command them in battle after usurping Anastasiou's organisation. But he wasn't supposed to have struck out on his own like he had, taking all those resources with him and wasting them all in one go.

Draco let out a sight of vexation and turned to the necromancer. "Oh, shut up about it already. Did you actually think he'd try to take on the entire wizarding world on his own? He had access to your resources, so he used them. Be grateful that he didn't take everything. How'd you know what was happening at Laketown, anyway?" he asked, giving Yamato a chance to verbally explain things. He'd sensed that his constant Mind Reading was unnerving.

"Did you honestly believe I would have left something as magnificent as the command ship without a way to monitor proceedings?"

"You should've built in something that would allow you to control it from a distance," Draco quipped. "That would've allowed you to recall the ship when things were going wrong."

"I _did_," Yamato replied tersely.

"And?"

"It must have been destroyed by the time I decided to recall the ship."

"Oh, so that's why the ship plunged into the northern part of Lake Michigan."

Yamato's slanted eyes narrowed. "How do you know that?"

Draco smirked. "I was there."

"What do you mean, you were there?" Wormtail asked, frowning.

"I mean, I am omnipresent. I have hundreds of faces, and I can be in hundreds of places at the time, either in my own appearance or in other appearances. I am a god. I can tell that you both think I've lost my mind. But the truth is my consciousness and power goes beyond what either of you can imagine. Hit me with the _Avada Kedavra_ and I will not die. Poison me and I will not perish."

"So? Voldemort also survived the _Avada Kedavra_. And so did Harry Potter," Yamato said.

Though his insolence was getting on Draco's nerves, he kept himself composed. "The magic used for them to accomplish that is feeble compared to the magic that now courses through my being." He paused as a thought struck him. "No, 'being' no longer describes me. I am an entity, I am timeless. And since my words don't seem to convince you, perhaps a small demonstration is in order." 

Draco briefly concentrated, calling out to one of his duplicates. Simultaneous gasps from Wormtail and Yamato confirmed his success. 

He decided to let his duplicate do some of the talking. "How is this possible, you wonder? If you would make yourselves comfortable, I will tell you a little story. It begins with someone very much like me. He was like me because he too wanted to take his fate into his own hands. His name was Korumu. He and his twin brother were the offspring of a Nalhati named Warold, an immortal being from the Mirror Realm. The Nalhati are the beings from which Draconians are descended. Ex-immortal, in Warold's case, for he gave up eternity to breed with a witch."

"Yes, Korumu was half-Nalhati, or first generation Draconian, whatever you want to call it. I congratulate you on your brief moment of enlightenment," the original Draco continued mockingly, after both he and his duplicate sensed the question on Wormtail's mind. "He was a first generation Draconian, with powers that went beyond anything normal wizards could do, yet weaknesses inherent to his mother's origins. Quite rightfully, he decided to take his fate in his own hands and eliminate those weaknesses. Korumu outmanoeuvred his fool of a father and drew all his energy and abilities into a bloodstone—not a natural one, but one of his own creation. Then he proceeded to bind the lives of thousands of mortals to the stone. As long as the mortals lived and procreated, the master of the stone would be bound to the lives of their children, and they would be bound to his existence and perpetuate it unwittingly. Immortality from mortality, a delightful paradox, don't you agree?"

"And this stone gives you different powers?" Yamato asked. He nodded to the duplicate. "Possession?"

"Much more than that. Common possession is limited to one being at a time, and the results are not as impressive as this. Like I said before, it also gives me many faces. If I so choose, they will take on their original form." He willed the duplicate to its original form, and soon his duplicate transformed into a middle aged wispy-thin witch with downy blonde hair. "She works at the office for merpeople relations. Her workplace is near the site where your ship went down. I saw it through her eyes."

"You still haven't told us _how_ you gained the power."

"You interrupted me, didn't you?" Draco snapped. "The bloodstone was among the gems taken from Caer Sidi."

"Impossible. All those rocks were of poor quality, and worthless. There was no magic in any of them."

"You're very arrogant, little man. Because _you_ couldn't detect its powerful magic, you dismiss my story as impossible? Yet you see the evidence before you."

Yamato scowled. "Then do tell us, how did you find it?"

"From their father, Korumu and his brother inherited the gift to read minds. Only someone with that ability would hear the stone's whispers and recognise it for what it really is. That someone was me, which just proves what I've always believed and was the main reason I didn't follow the so-called Dark Lord around like a dog. This form of Mind Reading is a gift that survives only in the oldest wizarding lineage. Purebloods are meant to rule the world. And Tom Riddle, after all, was only a half-blood," he added derisively.

Yamato chuckled. "I must disagree. If I am not mistaken, Wolfe and his sister's paternal grandmother is a Muggle-born witch. That makes them half-bloods, yet _they_ are the ones who inherited the gift from Ironheart, not you."

Draco decided to graciously pardon the necromancer's insolence yet again, though his patience was wearing thin. Still, he had to accommodate the lesser being's narrow mind. "Everything happens for a reason. When Wolfe and I were in the presence of the stone, it was _I_, the pureblood, to whom it called."

"Only because Wolfe was busy corrupting Maximus. You weren't even a natural Mind Reader. It was an accident. A fluke."

"It was my _destiny_!" Draco hissed.

"And you are destined to become immortal and invincible? Will the power of the stone provide that for you? If so, why isn't Korumu still around, hmmm?" Yamato drawled.

Draco grinned. "You ought to show me more respect, Yamato. Do you honestly believe that the feeble jinx on the contract will harm me now? It would be like a stunner on a dragon. No," he corrected himself, "it would have even less of an impact."

Yamato blanched. He'd clearly forgotten to take that into account. Yet he still chose to defy Draco. "You still haven't answered my question."

"Then perhaps I ought to show you the bigger picture. It is time you become a part of greatness!"

Draco Disapparated and re-appeared next to Yamato. A few heartbeats later, he was staring at as his own likeness. The considerable knowledge of the necromancer was added to the collective consciousness, and Draco realised that he should have added Yamato much sooner. There were some very interesting memories in Yamato's head.

He turned to Wormtail, who was whimpering as he cowered in a corner of the chamber. "You needn't worry, Wormtail. If you don't make a nuisance of yourself, you'll have nothing to worry about. Besides, there is nothing you can contribute that I don't already have. I see you're still wondering about Yamato's question, yet you are afraid to ask."

"Forgive me," Wormtail squeaked.

Draco pursed his lips. "I should expect blind faith from you, but since you _have_ shown proper respect, I shall reward you by easing your mind. It took an alliance of Nalhati to defeat him. They combined their powers to transform him into some sort of tree, or trap him in one, and settled around the site, making it inaccessible to mortals."

"The Immortal's Circle," Wormtail whispered, surprising Draco even further. He'd underestimated Pettigrew.

"Yes, the Immortal's Circle. And though this isn't mentioned in Pecos Bill's book, I suspect it was Korumu who created Potter's duplicate. On the matter of your question, the answer should be obvious now. There are no more immortals left to stop _me_. Now go prepare yourself. I will soon gather all my avatars, and we will crush the Order of Illumination at Laketown. Maximus has served his purpose in softening them up well."

Wormtail nodded and scampered away, leaving Draco alone with his thoughts. Maximus… he might pose a threat. The stone contained the memories of another Mind Reader who had discovered the stone. Merlin had defeated Zerbino by breaking the bond between him and Korumu's stone. Maximus didn't seem to have quite that much power, but he came much closer than Draco was comfortable with. The same went for Potter, if the information Draco had about the showdown between Potter and his double was accurate. Of the two, Maximus had always worries Draco the more, because he'd shown no weaknesses during his life. But Potter's Achilles heel was well known. Draco had felt something akin to disappointment when he'd felt the two powerful magical auras fade and finally blink out. He'd wanted the pleasure of killing Harry Potter Personally after having humiliated him in front of his friends.

He'd almost been disappointed when he'd felt their powerful magical auras fade away. He'd wanted to personally kill Harry Potter after humiliating him in front of his friends.

Draco dug into his pocket and produced the ring Potter had given Ginny Weasley. Before Draco had been forced to leave the so-called legitimate wizarding world when she overcame the influence of his enslavement ring, he'd made sure to hide it as well as he could. He'd kept it in the hollow sole of his left boot, and transfigured the pair of boots into different looking ones, effectively removing the already barely visible seam and perfectly hiding the ring until he un-transfigured the boots. Even if someone would have discovered the magic residue and un-transfigured the boots, wizards still tended to overlook non-magical hiding places if the magic search turned up empty. As an added precaution, he'd wrapped the ring in a tiny Cloth of Obscuring—a handy artefact from his smuggling days—to make things more difficult for a certain annoying ex Auror with a magic eye. 

He reached into the pocket of his robes and took out the box containing the ring. He opened it and looked it over critically. It was a sorry looking thing, really. The slightly tarnished silver was of poor quality and the green zircon stone, which was probably supposed to pass for an emerald had a flaw that Draco could plainly see with his superior vision. However, even lesser beings would have been able to spot it with a little magnification. He shook his head. What kind of a loser would give his girlfriend such a cheap trinket? Of course, having grown up in a burrow, Ginny probably hadn't noticed any of that.

"Hurry up, Wormtail," Draco bellowed. It was time to show Ginny the magnitude of her mistake. No one rejected a Malfoy, especially not one who was meant for godhood.

*

Hermione was sure that all the people who could have got away had done so. An hour and a half had passed since the battle's end. No new injured witches and wizards were coming in, which was a good thing because Hermione had her hands full. After stabilising the most critically injured, the healers had now moved onto the non-life threatening injuries.

Carlos Montalban failed to suppress a scream as Hermione popped his dislocated shoulder back in place. It had been pulled out of its socket when an unexpected ally showed up and caught him and Rashid Farouk before they hit the ground.

"It's only a dislocated shoulder, you sissy," George Ramos teased, before he himself yelped girlishly when Lilia dabbed the cut in his cheek with a stinging disinfectant.

"A dislocated shoulder is worse than that little cut of yours," Montalban retorted. "You're the sissy!"

"It was surprise, not pain!" Ramos replied smoothly. Then he turned to Lilia, who had her wand pressed against his cheek. "My cheek feels numb," he pouted, lazily tracing his fingers over her knee. "That cut was pretty deep, and maybe it severed some nerves. I need you to test if it still has feeling." 

Lilia smiled sweetly as she finished healing the cut, and put her wand away. She brushed his cheek with her thumb and leaned forward, before she suddenly reared back treated him to a resounding slap across the cheek.

"What was that for?" Ramos asked, cradling his cheek and looking outraged.

"When I'm around to patch you up I suddenly _am_ good enough for you?"

"What are you talking about?"

"I'm talking about that witch you were ogling at the Quidditch supplies store. Don't you dare deny it! You went out with her a couple of weeks before the Concordians kicked us out. I know because I followed you."

"You _followed_ me? Whatever happened to no strings attached rule? That was _your_ plan, remember?"

"It was more of a guideline."

"So the rule only applied if it was to _your_ benefit?"

That's not the point. If you'd been honest about it, I wouldn't have minded too much. But you denied it at first. Then you went out with her behind my back!"

"Bullshit, that's exactly the point. It _was_ okay for _you _to go out with that Hippogriff rancher."

"I only did it after you went out with that bimbo!" Lilia said shrilly.

Hermione felt Montalban shake with silent laughter as she continued to apply pressure on his shoulder while her healing spell soothed and tightened the ligaments around his shoulder again. Some of the injured townspeople, who lay around them, turned on their cots to look at the commotion.

"What do you want from me anyway? If you want us to see each other exclusively, say so!" Ramos yelled, his face reddening in anger. "I'm sick and tired of your 'holier than thou' attitude. If there's anything I learned today, it is that life is too short. Either we get together or we move on."

"Fine, I want us to see each other exclusively."

"Me too."

"All right then."

"Okay," Ramos said awkwardly. "So it's just you and me."

"Yeah," Lilia nodded. She had noticed everyone looking at them, and was blushing. The awkwardness was short lived, and soon the scowl was back on her face. "What are you all looking at? Mind your own business!"

The wizards and witches quickly looked away.

"Keep it down, Lilia," Captain Sharif said, picking his way through the crowd of injured. 

"Sorry, Captain," Lilia said.

"Did Captain Faust find any survivors?" Hermione asked. She was afraid of what the answer might be. She couldn't fathom how much damage the trolls had done before the large ship suddenly left, lifting the anti-magic field and granting the Rangers access to the use of their wands again. When that happened, the scale had tipped in favour of the Rangers and the trolls were quickly defeated by the surgical curse work of Faust and the veteran Combat Rangers, striking the trolls where their armour was thinnest.

"It's horrible," Sharif said sadly. "Some people were able to hide from the trolls, but the Dementors got to them before the Patronus Bomb finished them off."

Hermione remembered the gigantic explosion of silvery light. The bomb had nearly finished _everyone_ off. Aside from the vast amounts of positive energy overwhelming the Dementors and turning them to dust, the shock wave had blown everyone off their feet. Fortunately the point of detonation had been over their enemies, so the trolls and flesh golems had suffered worse. Captain Faust had handily taken advantage of that. While the trolls were stunned, he'd led a handful of veteran Rangers in a quick thrust that allowed them to kill or otherwise incapacitate over a dozen trolls, with no losses of their own.

"Did _we_ lose anyone?" Ramos asked anxiously. "The people on the_ Hurricane_?"

"Gudrun Kelly is okay. She was very lucky and got away with some scrapes and bruises. We'd have lost Valentina Malkova if Holly hadn't climbed into the _Hurricane's_ wreckage to stabilise her with that special power of hers. She's still in bad shape, but we'll be able to save her now."

Hermione smiled. That made _three_ Rangers who had been saved by Holly.

"What about Emir Badra?" Ramos asked.

Hermione didn't really know the quiet Tunisian wizard that well. All she knew was that he would become a Field Operative for the Intelligence Division upon completing his training. Being in the same recruitment class, Ginny and Ramos knew him better. But there had been two others on the _Hurricane_ whom she'd known better. Vania Goumas, the Greek witch with the raven curls, and Helga.

"It was too late for him," Sharif said quietly. "Helga Olsen didn't make it either. Vania Goumas was hurt pretty badly. She broke six ribs and both her legs and got some internal injuries, but she'll be okay."

Hermione felt ill. The cold and harsh reality had set in again after the brief moment of relief they'd all had felt at still being alive. Knowing that Ginny and Ron were okay had made her forget about everything except Harry. The _Eurus_ had flown after the centipede ship when it fled the scene. Commander Ironheart was still there out looking for him.

Helga…the image of the large woman's rosy-cheeked face wormed it way it Hermione's mind's eye. She sighed. At least Helga and Nathan would be together again.

"We lost Lei Wong too, on the ground," Sharif continued. "I've got Irina watching Yue, in case her grief gets the better of her. And Donovan told me that Quist's gone. I'm not sure how that happened. All Donovan told me is that he sacrificed himself to detonate the Patronus bomb."

They'd lost so many good people again. And maybe they'd lost Harry too. Hermione glanced around, searching for Ginny. She found her at the edge of the open-air field hospital, accompanied by Heidi, who was carrying an infant. They were going from bed to bed, asking the more lucid wounded some questions and showing them the baby.

"You're healed," Hermione patted Montalban on the shoulder. "Pavel's our burn expert. Let him have a look at your thigh. The fire that hit you was magical, and healing such burns with standard spells has been known to make them worse." Then she walked over to Heidi and Ginny, who had progressed on to the next wizard in line and were asking him questions.

As Hermione got closer, she caught part of the conversation. "…were two little boys of this age, but the Beaumonts are on vacation and I'm sure they took their kid with them, so it's got to be the Sullivans' kid. His mother had very long curly brown hair and a birthmark on her left cheek, right?"

"Yes," Ginny nodded.

"Oh dear," the wizard sighed. "I saw Sullivan himself being cut down by one of those monsters. This child is an orphan."

"Did this Sullivan have any relatives living here?" Heidi asked.

"I wouldn't know. Sullivan's Muggle-born. But his wife wasn't. I think the kid would be better off with her family than with Muggles. Her name was Marlene," the wizard hesitated and frowned, After a few moments he gave up. "She was from an old wizarding family in Germany, but for the life of me I can't remember her maiden name."

"Faust?" Heidi ventured. "Mesmer… Knorr von Rosenroth… Reuchlin… Boehme… Maier… Khunrath… Kircher… Von Nettesheim—"

"That's the one!" the wizard nodded. "Von Nettesheim."

"Marlene von Nettesheim? Are you sure?" Heidi asked, gazing at the sleeping infant in her arms and gently reaching up to stroke its brow.

"Yes ma'am," the wizard answered gravely. 

"You knew her?" Hermione asked Heidi.

Heidi shook her head. "Not really. My grandmother is a Von Nettesheim. Her father is my mother's first cousin, so she was my second cousin. I've only seen her twice in my life. The last time was some ten years ago at a wedding. Her aunt—my mother's cousin—was marrying an Australian Kelly. Matt was there too." She paused, running her fingertips through the baby's tuft of soft brown hair. "He has the von Nettesheims' hair, just like his mother. Marlene must have changed a lot while growing up. I didn't recognise her immediately, but now that we've put a name to the face, I'm sure it's her. I remember the birthmark. I'll have to send word to my family. That is, assuming they'll get custody?" Heidi looked at the wizard inquisitively.

"I don't know about these things, ma'am. I sell cauldrons and cauldron accessories. You'd have to ask Sam Peasegood. He handles these kinds of situations at the Ministry. 'Course, I'm not sure he survived. Last time I saw him, he was boxed in by some of those monster zombies."

"You take care of him for the time being," Hermione told Heidi.

"But I don't know anything about babies."

"Did you check him for injuries?"

"Yes," Ginny said. "He's healthy and unharmed."

"Then all you need to do for the time being is feed him, change him and bathe him. There's some special Granian milk on the _Typhoon_. Its Captain Yee's, but she wouldn't mind giving it up for a good cause. It's the only thing I can think of that comes close to baby formula or mother's milk. It's very wholesome and it can be drunk by people who are lactose intolerant."

"Unless we can find something suitable for babies on the island," Ginny said.

"Don't hold your breath," the wizard said. "There used to be one such shop on the northern island, but it got flattened too."

"What about this island?"

"Nope."

Ginny shrugged. "Granian milk it is, then."

"Go to the _Typhoon _and ask Captain Yee where it is," Hermione said as she sent Heidi on her way. "Ginny, are there any more injured that require our attention?"

"Lots of them. But we're running out of supplies rather quickly. We've begun to set up Portkeys to the Leeds Point Hospital, but I've heard that they're having trouble coping with the influx of injured too, because they already got two dozen or so from Agua Caliente."

"Why did they send them all the way to New Jersey?"

"The other wizarding hospital in Denver couldn't cope with all of them. And Agua Caliente got off easy compared to Laketown," Ginny explained. "On the bright side, Canada's willing to take in some of the injured. Some Canadian Ministry wizards are already here with two-way Portkeys. See the wizard who's gawking at Holly? He's one of them."

Indeed, the wizard was gawking at Holly, though it wasn't really surprising, because Holly looked like an angel with her wings out. Producing the wings must have caused Holly's dress to be ripped, because she was topless. It was probably the main reason why the wizard was staring.

"I'd better get her covered up," Ginny sighed. "Harry will have a fit if he sees her like that."

Hermione was pleasantly surprised to have heard no bitterness in Ginny's tone when she'd mentioned Holly. She also drew hope from Ginny's conviction that Harry would be back among them soon. "You do that. I'll be making some rounds to see if I can help some more."

For the next hour or so she helped Evgenia Ivanova and Pavel Kozminski with the treatment of several badly burnt witches and wizards, and she made a list of people stable enough to weather a Portkey ride to the Canadian wizarding clinics. When the field of injured had thinned out considerably, she heard the telltale hum of an approaching Cruiser. The _Eurus _picked a clear landing spot and settled down. 

Ron was the first one down the ramp, and he was running towards her. Hermione stumbled across the terrain as quickly as her tired legs would allow her to, and found herself engulfed in a fierce hug soon after.

"I'm glad you're okay," she said. The tension drained out of her now that he was back in her arms.

"I was so worried about you," Ron replied.

"Harry?"

"There wasn't a trace of the ship in Lake Michigan. We think it got sucked into the Portal to the Mirror Realm—you know, the one Pecos Bill talked about. _We_ nearly were sucked in when we went down to look for it. We asked the local merpeople about it, but their nearest community is pretty far from the portal, so they didn't see it happen. We can't be completely sure—"

"But you think it happened."

"Everyone on the _Eurus_ does," Ron said. "Don't worry about Harry. I'm sure he's fine. He'll get back to us sooner or later."

*

His inner ear told him that he was the right side up. The water drained out of the ship, and he deactivated his Bubble-head Charm when the water level dropped below his chin. Not quite knowing how he came to hold two wands, he squeezed them both into the special holster at his side. Then he noticed the slight burn marks on his soggy clothes as waded through the receding water and made his way to an overhead hatch. He remembered the fireball that had raced towards him, and he knew he should have been more badly burnt. 

He tensed the muscles in his legs and leapt out through the hatch with remarkable ease. He'd never done it that easily. He looked up and saw the light violet sky above. Pastel yellow clouds lazily drifted overhead. Part of him was confused, yet part of him knew this place. He'd been here before.

A sudden dizziness overtook him and he went down on all fours. Something was fundamentally wrong. There was something inside of him, something that didn't belong there. He took a deep breath and retched. The anomaly struggled to remain inside, but it was no match for his new power. Its smoky form poured out of his mouth and nose. It reformed and tried to worm its way back in, but he wouldn't let it. With a pitiful shriek it dissipated into nothingness.

He felt much better, but he was still confused. So many thoughts were coursing through his head. He had to calm himself and try to make sense of it all. Looking over the railing of the deck, he saw dry land. It was over a mile away, but he knew he could make it easily. Before he knew it, he was floating three feet above the deck of the ship. He was already getting the hang of this. It was easy, and reminded him of the first time on a broomstick. It had come to him quite naturally. 

Focussing on the landmass ahead, his body shot forwards. He willed himself to go faster and faster as he skimmed over the water's surface. He'd never gone quite that fast with a broomstick, and he approached the beach much faster than he'd anticipated he would. The landing was hard, but his body could handle it. He felt like he was made of enchanted dwarven steel. 

A cry echoed over the waves. Something was after him. His eyesight was beyond anything human as well. He could see the creature in detail over a mile away. It had a cruel-beaked bird's head and scaly wings were protruding from its back, flapping with steady beats and propelling her over the water. It was the form of an angry Veela, although he wasn't sure whether she was really angry. Maybe she was just wanted to get to land without getting wet. Either way, angry or not, she wasn't much of a threat to him.

He patiently waited for her arrival. She landed and transformed into a beautiful woman. He'd forgotten that she'd been on the ship with him, but it was all coming back to him now. 

She had left with him after Anastasiou's destruction. She had been the parasite's lover and had resided with Anastasiou, yet he knew she wasn't inherently evil. He wasn't sure what to do about her. The look in her eyes made it more than obvious how she felt about him.

"Don't leave me!" she said softly.

He shook his head. They had no basis for a relationship. He hadn't been in control when they had been intimate. Maybe she didn't know. "Maximus is gone. I am—" Who _was_ he? He looked down into a puddle of water on the beach. He recognised the face, though he knew he shouldn't look like that. The eyes, the hair and the scar didn't belong, yet they did. They were also a part of him.

"Hello, Moira," a cool voice behind him said. No one had been there a moment ago, and he would have heard them coming. He turned around quickly and recognised the stooping, bald man. Hundreds of wrinkles criss-crossed his solemn face. It was the caretaker of the winds.

"Have we met? How do you know my name?" Moira asked.

"We haven't met, but Merlin has told me all about you. I'm terribly sorry, but I have to do this." The caretaker briefly placed the palms of his hands together as if he were praying. Then he turned his palms outward, towards Moira. An intense blue-ish light shot out towards Moira. Seconds later, there was an opaque crystal where Moira had been standing.

"I didn't expect you to be back so soon," the caretaker said, turning to face him. "You fused with him, didn't you? The owner of that other wand you had with you last time. Fourteen inches of dragon heartstring and ironwood."

"We were two, and now were are one. But I don't know who I am anymore."

The caretaker chuckled. "I can see your dilemma, but not to worry. I've had thousands of years to come up with one. How about Phoenix? I believe it serves to describe you well."

"Sounds good." Phoenix shrugged. "So you knew I was coming?"

"I knew you would unlock the final power of my pendants. You used to be the two mightiest champions of the light. Together you are much more than the sum of your previous powers. Max was the dragon, the ferocious and untameable warrior who could have gone either way but chose the light. Harry was the griffin, the fierce protector of good." The caretaker's face fell and his eyes clouded over as he seemed to recall a distant memory. "It was much the same with my brother and I. He was the warrior, and I was the protector. But he chose darkness."

"Wait? You are an immortal. I thought you didn't have brothers."

"I haven't told you everything, Phoenix. I couldn't do so at the time. Telling you too much about your path would have been far too disturbing at the time, but I feel that you are ready now. My father was caretaker, but my mother was a mortal human. I am a half-caste, like Holly. In the old days, my father's people were known as the Nalhati, and they had names. Actually, they still do, but they don't tell mortals. My father's name was Warold, and he had power of the winds, like I do know."

"And what's your name?"

"I am Novoridu." The caretaker bowed theatrically. "And like I said, you are wearing my pendants. Not only that, but my blood flows through your veins. The dragon and the griffin were both my descendants, and their destinies were so similar and entwined that it made them brothers."

Phoenix traced his fingers over the pendants. They were now connected, forming a single, circular medallion. "You made these?"

"Yes. I made them because your realm needed a balance for my brother's stone."

"How did the stone get into my realm in the first place?"

"It was made there. My brother and I were born in your realm. When we trapped him inside the Root of Evil, it was because we succeeded in separating him from the stone first. It remained in your realm, though it was briefly in this realm. Merlin defeated a wizard who had bonded with the stone. He hid it in this realm, hoping that no one would ever find it. But soon, some of my earlier descendants came back to claim it, hoping to master its power for their own purposes."

"If you knew the stone was here, why didn't you take it and hide it better?"

"Because I wanted it to be in your realm," Novoridu explained. "Merlin didn't know this, but Korumu got much stronger when the stone was here. He almost broke out of his imprisonment. Though they were never aware of it, I pointed the Caer Sidi Gatekeepers to the stone. I know it seemed like a selfish thing to do. If not for my actions, your world wouldn't be in danger now. I can feel the foul stone stirring. The serpent has bonded with it, and it is preparing to march on the army of light. You don't have much time."

"How do I stop him?"

"The inverted pendant contains the knowledge you need to break the bond with the stone. Break the bond and you will free the serpent's slaves."

"Can I destroy the stone?"

"If you do so, you will destroy my brother for good. You will also destroy me, for I am bound to my brother. If not for that stone, my life would have expired long ago. I wouldn't mind if you did this. I would do anything to stop Korumu and his new avatar. But if you destroy it, _your_ life will also end. Are you willing to pay that price?"

"If that's what it takes," Phoenix said. He'd done nothing else for as long as he could remember. Both Max and Harry had always been willing to lay down their lives to keep innocents safe from evil. He turned to look at the opaque crystal. "Did you have to do that? Deep down she wasn't evil."

"That is why I trapped her in there. It is a purification crystal. The day she truly lets go of evil, the stone will purify her and set her free. Merlin trapped Moira in such a crystal too. I taught him the necessary magic to accomplish this. I am not sure how she escaped."

"She had outside help," Phoenix said, drawing his knowledge from Wolfe's memories.

"That would explain it," Novoridu said. "Now go, you must hurry! You are capable of very fast flight now." He pointed in the direction of a cluster of cliffs. "Make your way along the coast until you see the mountains. Once you are there, the forest will be in sight. The pendant will help you to avoid Korumu's tricks again."

"I suppose I'll see you on the other side," Phoenix said. He intended to finish this for good, even if it would kill him.

Novoridu nodded. "May the light of your soul strengthen you."

Phoenix acknowledged the blessing with a smile before he looked at the sky. Seconds later, he was darting along the clouds, ripping them apart with the turbulence his speedy passing caused.

***

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Author's Note: Yes, I know, Malfoy's rant early in the chapter was a near literal copy from Agent Smith. I told you guys you haven't seen the last of 'Agent Malfoy' yet. ;-p. Don't worry, this was the last Matrix reference in the story.

I'd also like to extend my congratulations to **Ginny 1946**, for guessing how the prophecy would be fulfilled.

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Gogirl: I'm just saying that the general consensus among authors for the length of a chapter is at least 3,000 words if the chapter is a slow read with not much happening anyway. (Longer, if it's a fast read like chapter 34 of MW was.) So in my humble opinion, you could gave combined the first two chapters and the story wouldn't have suffered. I realise that they way I phrased things made it sound like I was telling you how to write_ your _story. (And again, in this reply I'm doing the same thing) But I tend to get carried away, so I apologise for that. I don't expect you to actually do any of the things I suggested (If the idea appealed to you, feel free to use it, though.) but you needn't get defensive. I'm not attacking you. Anyway, you have a good beta, and if she doesn't have any complaints I'll heed your request and have a little faith from now on. :-)

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Jake: Nope, merely loads of research.

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Starwest45: Quist's exit was cool, wasn't it? Talk about going out with a bang!

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CatatonicReaction: As this chapter may have told you, the 35-chapter schedule has been shattered. I'm not sure how many chapters I'll need, but it looks like 38.

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Zaz: Yadda…yadda…yadda back at ya. ;-)

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WatchingDragon: Sorry, no kiss yet, if ever. *evil cackle*

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nycgal: Can you send me your e-mail again? I deleted it by accident :-( I need to discuss something about you-know-which characters. Can't really say more, because I don't want to release any facts about the thirds story here. (Yes, you will inevitably find out something about the plot, though not much.)

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niccolo javier: I wish I knew why Gryffindor Tower had to close.

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judi: It was no 'pretend to kill off'. How did you like the resolution?

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Earl: I'm glad I coaxed you out of lurkerhood.

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Lady Reaper of the Shadows: I'm sorry, but I can't update any faster than this. :-(

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Ginny1946: I've copied your e-mail. You can expect the final chapter of MW in your mailbox. You'll get it before the others do. And yes, I did get the inspiration from the Supreme Kai's earrings in DBZ. I reckon that's how you were able to guess it, right? ^-^

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Casual Reader: I KNOW!

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Obsessed with Snuffles: Don't worry about Harry. You'll know he'll survive. Worry about one of the Weasleys instead.

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Athena McGonagall: Athena-Minerva…very clever. I think this chapter answered most of your questions, right?

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J: How did you like the shameless bit of Matrix in this chapter?

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Yak-Cool: *claps hands* You wish has been granted.

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LadySiri: Hmm, reincarnation. Now there's an idea for when I really kill him. Mwahahahaha…

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Julephenia: Nah, killing Gudrun would have been too cliché.

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Ancalyme: Me, better than Ruskbyte? The statistics disagree with you, but thanks anyway. 

Bisexuality in Harry Potter? I doubt it. It's a children's book, and everyone will probably be 'nice and straight'. Enough radical religious groups are burning her books as it is, and I don't think JK would go out of her way to antagonise more people like that. Or maybe she'll do whatever she pleases and introduce such a character. Who knows?

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Petals1: For the record, chapter 35 was already finished before I posted chapter 34, so your intimidation had nothing to do with me sparing Gudrun's life. ;-)


	36. Clash of Titans

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Clash of Titans

Chapter 36

"I could feel evil stirring," Holly explained, answering Hermione's question as to why she'd shown up when she had. "I knew I needed to be here, and I knew it had to be now. I don't know how or why. I just do whatever my heart tells me to."

She had that faraway sort of look in her eyes when she spoke, suggesting to Hermione that caretakers were capable of some type of clairvoyance too.

"I'm sure Farouk and Montalban agree wholeheartedly," Ginny said, while she fiddled with the dress she and Heidi had created for Holly. "Won't this open back be a bit chilly outside?"

"I'm not bothered by the cold," Holly said. "I found out when I was little. My sister and I were playing in the snow, and she got sick, but I didn't. No, she was not born to my mother," Holly added quickly, noticing the strange looks she was given. "She was a foundling, given to my mother by the chieftain of a nearby Dait village. He got her from another Dait chieftain whose village lay closer to the Dreand Sea. But Vorth—that's the chieftain who gave Crystal to my mother—said that the other chieftain had no idea how the infant got there, because there weren't any tracks leading towards or away from the place she was found. And the Dreand Sea shore is far from the closest Etti settlement."

Ginny gave Holly an odd look. "Dait? Etti? What are those?" 

Hermione was glad that the details of Pecos Bill's book were still fresh in her mind. It allowed her to understand what Holly was talking about. "Etti are humans, or near-humans. They're descended from wizards and witches who migrated to the Mirror Realm thousands of years ago when most of the land gates were still open. But they're not completely human anymore, because they interbred with other beings. Dait are humanoid beings with some feline features, possibly the same type of beings who used to dwell in Australia," she explained, before turning to Holly again. "Your adopted sister's an Etti?"

Holly shook her head. "She looks like humans from _this_ realm. That's what's so strange about her."

"She was from this realm?"

"It's possible, I can't be sure. Mother told me that the one who found my sister said there were no tracks, and she ought to have noticed some because she'd gone fishing near that spot the day before, so the tracks couldn't have faded yet."

"Unless someone erased them," Ginny pointed out.

"That's possible. However, the Dait have a very good sense of smell too, and the one who found Crystal told her chieftain that she hadn't smelled anything. She had no reason to lie about it."

"I reckon you're right. So your sister got sick and you didn't," Ginny said, steering the conversation back in its original direction.

Holly nodded. "I asked Mother what was wrong with Crystal, and she told me that I was much hardier than my sister because I am half Nalhati."

"That's a word I don't know," Hermione said, not being able to remember it having been mentioned in Pecos Bill's book.

"Caretakers call themselves that."

"I see. Say, why didn't you tell us about your sister?"

"You never asked," Holly said simply.

"Did you tell Harry?" Ginny asked.

"Yes. We talked about her once. He told me that I shouldn't have left my mother alone to come and look for him, so I told him that mother still had my sister to love."

A whooshing sound announced Ron's arrival on the _Typhoon_'sbridge. "I hate politicians," he said, though his expression wasn't as severe as his tone.

Hermione leaned forward in her chair. "What happened?"

"One of the gits from the United States' Ministry showed up here with a handful of Aurors to try and _arrest_ us—as if they could. He was among the ones who advocated the disbanding of the Order. He obviously hadn't heard the news yet."

"The United States Ministry _has_ been preoccupied with other matters recently," Hermione pointed out. She wasn't terribly surprised that no one in the U.S. had been following Anastasiou's former puppets' declarations of innocence on account of having been placed under the Imperius Curse, while Agua Caliente and Laketown had been under attack from a terrifying enemy.

"True. Anyway, another official showed up a little later," Ron said, a smug grin appearing on his face. "It seems Commander Ironheart isn't completely above exacting petty revenge on petty bureaucrats. After introducing himself, he told the newcomer that he sensed no influence of the Imperius in the first Ministry official."

Hermione gasped. This was almost too good to be true. "He was exposed as a willing accomplice?"

Ron nodded. "The American Aurors had some Veritaserum on them, so they were able to verify it immediately."

"You don't look too happy," Ginny said, and Hermione too had noticed that Ron's earlier grin had vanished.

"It's just that the second Ministry official struck me as even slimier than the first one. I'm sure he'd have betrayed us too if he'd been given half a chance. But we helped his career today, and he'll be lauded as the hero."

"I haven't been here very long, but I have observed that people who are skilled at telling lies are often the leaders," Holly said. "It is not only here. While I travelled around with Bill back home, I noticed it too."

Hermione grimaced. "Manipulative people are often in positions of leadership, that's true. But keep in mind that it doesn't automatically mean that they're bad people. The Order of Illumination often manipulates to avoid conflict. The real trouble starts when those people begin using their cunning to achieve their own selfish ends at the expense of others. It's very easy to do so in a position of power, which is why so many fall prey to it."

"I…think I understand," Holly nodded.

"Yeah, the world's far from perfect. You'll have to ask Heidi how these politicians' minds work," Ron said. "Speaking of Heidi, Captain Kovalenko sent me to look for her. I can't find her anywhere?"

"Oh, I forgot," Ginny smiled sheepishly. "She's in Austria. We decided to place the baby in his family's care as soon as possible. She ought to be back soon. The plan was to leave the baby at her mum's, who would then contact the child's closer relatives in Germany."

"What baby?"

"I told you about it, Ron." Hermione said.

"Oh, _that_ baby," Ron said. Then he gave his sister a dubious look. "Do you honestly believe she'll hurry back after dropping off the baby?"

Ginny frowned. "What do you mean?"

"She hasn't seen her mum after her dad was murdered. I think they'll have some serious mourning to do. We might not see her again for days."

"Bloody hell, I didn't think of that."

"Don't worry about it. I'll tell Commander Ironheart and Captain Kovalenko."

"D'you think the Ice Princess will let it slide?" Ginny asked uncertainly.

All of the sudden an inexplicable blush turned Ron's head into a fair approximation of a tomato. "I think Captain Kovalenko isn't as frosty as she's made out to be, Ginny."

Hermione knew lots of Rangers had issues and that there was probably a good reason why Captain Kovalenko seemed a bit cold. And if Ron said that the captain wasn't as cold as she appeared to be, Hermione believed him. But she wasn't sure why Ginny's comment had made Ron blush like an awkward teenager. He blushed even more deeply when he appeared to noticed her suspicious gaze on him. She knew him well enough to be able to tell that there was something he didn't want her to know. All the more reason for her to ferret it out, of course.

She was about to pester him about it when Matt and Gudrun arrived on the bridge.

Gudrun raised and eyebrow. "Dodging your chores, children?"

"The ladies were," Ron said. "I was actually looking for Heidi on Captain Kovalenko's behalf."

"Where _is_ she? I need to talk to her too."

"Austria. There was an orphaned baby boy who turned out to be her second cousin once removed. She took him to her mum, who'll send him to his closer relatives."

"Guess we won't be seeing her for a while then," Matt said. "I think she and her mum will be crying on each other's shoulder for a while."

"Did everyone take a sensitivity course when I wasn't looking, or am I getting denser?" Ginny muttered.

"A little of both," Gudrun said teasingly. "Hermione and I are rubbing off on our men, and since you're not rubbing _anyone_ you're not wearing away any layers and you're cluttering up."

"I'm not willing to rub on just anyone," Ginny said haughtily.

"Excuse me, but are you implying that my wife is rubbing on just anyone? _I_ am not _just anyone_!" Matt said, pretending to be offended.

Hermione smirked. "What exactly are we talking about when we say _rubbing_?"

Gudrun chuckled. "You've got a dirty mind, Granger."

"That's because Ron's rubbing off on me," Hermione quipped.

Everyone except Holly laughed. She just blinked quizzically a few times.

"Innuendo," Ginny patted Holly's shoulder. "You'll get the hang of it."

A warm feeling spread through Hermione while she witnessed Ginny's sisterly behaviour towards Holly. It quickly vanished, however, when she remembered that Harry was still missing in action. If only he were all right… 

"C'mon, sweetheart," Matt grabbed Gudrun's elbow. "You need to rest."

"Really, you're treating me as if I'm disabled," Gudrun protested.

"I nearly lost you today. Indulge me, all right?" The pain in Matt's tone cut like a knife.

Gudrun's mutinous expression softened, and a coy smile appeared on her lips. "It's awfully chilly in the sleeping compartment."

"Sorry. Commander Ironheart has a few chores for me. Grab extra blankets."

Gudrun twirled Matt's hair through her fingers. "Can't it wait?"

"I'm afraid not," Matt groaned, looking genuinely tempted. Then his resolve visibly crumbled. "Oh, I suppose fifteen minutes wouldn't matter much."

"Fifteen minutes? I need at least half an hour, _husband_," Gudrun bargained.

"We shouldn't push the Commander's patience…but if fifteen minutes is okay, I suppose twenty wouldn't be too much of a problem."

Ginny snorted and rolled her eyes.

Gudrun shot her a mischievous glance. "Envy doesn't suit you."

"As if!"

"C'mon, let's give the lovebirds some privacy," Ron said, guiding Hermione to the levitation surface.

Ginny muttered something under her breath.

"What do you mean by 'more like bunnies'?" Holly asked Ginny.

Ginny blushed. "Never mind."

*

A dozen to the left of him and a dozen to the right, each one a specimen of perfection. The only blemish was Wormtail, who was cowering next to him. Draco had considered transforming Wormtail too, but in the end he'd decided to keep him around as a reminder of how wretched the lesser beings could really be. More pops and cracks announced the arrival of other avatars of his. The Rangers' ships loomed up ahead, and the fear emanating from the wizards on the outskirts of the encampment hit him like a tidal wave.

Draco briefly concentrated, pooling the resources of his avatars. The fear grew as the wizards realised that Apparating was no longer and option. He'd made Apparition impossible for fifty miles in every direction.

Two Rangers drew their wands and fired stunners at two of his avatars, only to see their feeble spells bounce off powerful Shield Charms. Draco laughed, and his avatars mimicked him. Their laughter echoed over the island, drawing the attention of his remaining foes instantly. 

The rain of curses on his ranks increased tenfold. The fools initially only threw feeble hexes at him, but they seemed to learn their lesson quickly enough, and green beams began to pour into his ranks. Of course, since his avatars were all endowed with extreme speed, they avoided the curses by twisting their upper bodies and stepping sideways when necessary. He felt the fear among the lesser beings grow even deeper, though to his chagrin he traced most of it back to his own servant, Wormtail, who was cowering at the back of the formation now, hoping the enemy wouldn't target him.

A mental command later his avatars had broken into a sprint, quickly overtaking everyone in their path and transforming them into avatars of his own, adding them to the collective. He'd been more discriminating about his former additions, only personally assimilating new wizards and witches. But now there was no need for any more subtlety.

He felt the thoughts and memories of the assimilated Rangers seep into his thoughts. Caer Sidi was indeed under the Fidelius though it would no longer be invisible to him. He'd pay the last of the Rangers a visit after he was done with the ones in Laketown. After that, the whole world would be at his mercy.

The fear his enemies felt turned into complete and utter terror as they saw what happened to their comrades. Their mounting sense of desperation was invigorating. Yet there was no sign of Granger or the Weasleys yet. As the thought crossed his mind, the link to yet another person was made. The image of a girl in her late teens presented itself in his mind's eye, along with the knowledge they'd had about her.

Potter's daughter—she had come from the Mirror Realm, travelling backwards through time—she was a half-immortal? That was very interesting. And if the Mirror Realm could indeed alter the time currents like that, perhaps it ought to be his next stop. He could easily go back in time and subjugate the present, establishing himself as a god in the past as well. No, he just as quickly realised, that wouldn't be possible. His existence in the present depended on leaving the past unchanged. But that didn't mean he couldn't conquer the Mirror Realm as well. He'd have to grow more powerful first, for there were still Nalhati immortals in the Mirror Realm. Once he enslaved every witch and wizard in this Realm, however, he'd be able to squash them like bugs.

A pity that Potter had died when the ship went down in Lake Michigan. Now he wouldn't be able to witness how Draco would turn his daughter into a personal concubine. Draco fervently hoped that the story about people being able to look on from the afterlife was true. It would cause Potter endless torment to see his woman and daughter serving—and _servicing_—Draco.

He smirked. His search was over. One of his avatars had caught sight of the Weasleys and Granger. They had just emerged from a Cruiser. Potter's daughter was with them. He casually strolled over to them while his other avatars completed their work, assimilating all the Rangers they could find. Their skill and knowledge was a welcome addition to his collective, and his increase in power was more noticeable than when he'd assimilated lesser wizards.

"Malfoy!"

"Weasel," Malfoy's avatar responded. Draco decided to let him initiate the conversation while he was on the way. "You always must have known that this day would come. And you must have known that you would lose. It was—after all—inevitable."

Draco had gathered more of his avatars around him as he'd made his way over to the Weasleys and Granger. He personally picked up the conversation again. "I can sense your revulsion, though you needn't worry. I am not going to assimilate you or your Mudblood whore. I'm just going to kill you, very slowly, though not before I've made you watch each and everyone of my avatars have their way with her."

He sensed a flash of recognition from Ginny. She'd noticed her ring on his little finger, and the fact that none of his avatars were wearing it, a difference he had created on purpose. She'd correctly concluded that he was the original, yet she'd incorrectly concluded that killing him would end things. Not that she _could_ kill him. 

Her rage gathered and she drew her wand. In the time it had taken her to draw her wand, he could have stopped her in a variety of lethal and non-lethal ways. But he chose to endure the inevitable Avada Kedavra, if only to prove his point about the inevitability of his victory and the futility of their resistance.

Draco revelled in their shock after the greenish light of her curse had washed over him with no apparent effect. "You shouldn't have done that," he said shaking his head melodramatically. "Yes, Ginny, you correctly guessed that I'm the original. You actually believed that killing me would have set the others free? Well, I suppose my destruction would have accomplished that. But there was one little snag to your plan. I can't be destroyed! However, you have me juggling with that Killing Curse now, and _someone_ will have to die."

He began to pace around. "Should I kill one of the Rangers? Let's see…which one were you close to? I could kill my grandfather, or perhaps the healer, Lilia? She was your friend, wasn't she? Or maybe it ought to be someone from home? Eeny meeny miny moe, who will stay and who will go? Ah, I have it!"

He swapped the essence of one of the Avatars next to him with another one. It would surely break their spirits. He smiled. "I believe you know him! The day before yesterday, in England, I added him to the collection." He transferred the deadly energy to the avatar. He changed back to his original form and fell flat on his back, looking at the sky with lifeless eyes.

"Voldemort only managed to have one killed, so I thought I'd complete the collection and kill the other."

*

Ginny's shriek pierced the complete silence that had overtaken Laketown. Ron's legs failed to hold him upright, and he fell to his knees. It couldn't be true…not George!

Before Ron, Hermione or Holly could stop her, Ginny rushed over to George and kneeled beside him, no longer paying attention to the smirking Malfoys surrounding her.

"Of course it's true, Weasley," Malfoy said. "You know, my father always said that your mother's temper would someday cause your family a whole lot of grief. In light of recent events, one could think he might have been displaying some of the Seer blood the Malfoys have been said to possess. Though one wouldn't have needed to be a Seer to see this coming."

"Stop gloating! Just get it over with! You're here to kill us aren't you?" Ginny cried, cradling George's body in her arms. "Get it over with!"

"But your anguish is so much more delicious," Malfoy laughed. "Why end it so quickly? It would make for a good story. I could use your brother's emotional feedback to refine my way of telling the tale while he watches my avatars have their way with his Mudblood. Then, when it's just right, I'll remind _you_ of it while we're consummating _our_ belated union."

Ron's blood boiled. How he longed to wipe that superior smirk off Malfoy's face.

"Go ahead, Weasley. Give it everything you've got. I'd love to see your brother's business partner lying there beside—" 

Malfoy stopped in mid-sentence, his eyes widening in something that looked remarkably like fear. Ron was about to feel even more ill than he already was. Something that could cause Malfoy concern had to be very bad indeed. But Holly's delighted squeal changed his mind. Her glowing eyes were looking straight at a large cloud that was quickly producing a tornado-like funnel cloud. It spat out a small figure that swooped out of its fall and headed straight towards them at an incredible speed.

Seconds later it was it was upon them, landing hard between the horde of Malfoys and Ron, sending up stony debris and a large cloud of dust. The rocks bounced off an invisible shield a few feet in front of them. From the corner of his eye, Ron saw Holly with a look of concentration on her face, holding out her arms in a warding gesture. She had created the shield. Moments later, Ginny, along with George's body, came floating out of the dust-cloud, dragged by some invisible force. They settled down behind Holly.

"Thank you, Holly," an oddly resounding voice said. It sounded like two voices speaking at the same time.

The dust gradually cleared, revealing a man in dark clothing. He was about as tall as Ron was, though he had much more muscle mass.

"Potter!" Malfoy spat.

Ron frowned. He hadn't seen the face, but except for the hair, the man didn't look like Harry.

"No. I am no longer Harry Potter or Maximilian Wolfe. I am Phoenix!"

When Phoenix spoke those words, he began to manifest an aura similar to the one Ron had seen Harry manifest shortly before facing down his double.

Phoenix half-turned his head and glanced at Ron. Ron's heart caught in his throat when he saw Harry's emerald green eye-colour, and the lightning-shaped scar on Wolfe's face. The answer to the riddle dawned on him. The prophecy had been fulfilled. Only one had emerged.

"Board that Cruiser and take off. I'll deal with Malfoy."

"I'm afraid no one leaves without my permission," Malfoy drawled. The other Malfoys all raised their wands and aimed them in their general direction. "This won't be as much fun as torturing your friends, but it'll give me nearly the same amount of satisfaction."

The fatal syllables of the Killing Curse emanated from dozens of throats at the same time. Ron threw his arms around Hermione and closed his eyes, yet the flashes of green light still penetrated his eyelids. Everything was deathly quiet afterwards, except, the sound of his own heartbeat pounded in his ears, and he felt Hermione stir in his arms.

"Impossible!" Malfoy hissed.

When Ron opened his eyes, an amazing sight greeted him. Phoenix was surrounded by a golden aura. Its volume and intensity was much greater than that of the whitish aura he'd had previously. Several green circles of light surrounded him, like Saturn surrounded by its rings.

With a casual gesture, Phoenix sent the rings shooting upward, where they dissipated into tiny green sparks that quickly dissolved into nothingness.

"You are going down!" Phoenix growled.

A pain of strong arms hoisted Ron to his feet. "We have to go."

Ron blinked. Holly had already taken Ginny into the Cruiser while he'd been too shocked to move, and now she was urging them to do the same. "Uh, right. C'mon Hermione—"

"You are not going anywhere," Malfoy screamed maniacally.

"Please hurry," Phoenix said calmly.

Green light reflected off the Cruiser's hull as Ron, Hermione and Holly ran towards the Cruiser. None of them died, so he guessed that Phoenix had stopped the curses again. His last glimpse through the closing ramp confirmed it. The last of the green sparks were dissipating into nothingness.

"Holly, please help George," Ginny wailed.

"I'm sorry," Holly said softly. "I can nourish the smallest spark of life, but I can't create life from cold ashes."

"Hermione, secure George," Ron said brokenly, while he hurried towards the levitation surface. It was hard to keep his thoughts coherent, but for all their sakes he had to blunt out the pain he was feeling. He knew he couldn't rely on Ginny just now, so he didn't give her any orders. Not that he really blamed her. If he'd been the one to inadvertently cause George's death, he'd likely have been in the same condition Ginny was in.

Once on the bridge, he plopped down into the pilot's chair. He was by no means an expert in handling Cruisers, but he knew enough to let it take off. There wasn't any time for a proper activation sequence so he pressed the emergency start up button. The Cruiser sputtered like a child being fed some disgusting food, but soon everything seemed to be up and running. He roughly shoved the vertical ascension lever, causing the Cruiser to jump into the air. The Cruiser began pitching forward dangerously, forcing Ron to pull the yoke towards him. But he'd overcompensated, because the next moment he saw only the sky. He silently thanked the ship's designers for the foresight they'd shown by adding the gravity charms. Even so, his manoeuvring might have thrown Hermione off her feet in the lower deck.

"See, I told you the Cruiser wasn't rocking because of us," Gudrun's voice sounded. "What do you think you're doing, Ron?"

"While you two were having fun, things went really badly outside," Ron snapped. "I think we're the only ones who haven't been transformed into Malfoys."

"What?" Gudrun said, sitting down into the other co-pilot's chair. "Let go of the controls, I've got it. And what do you mean with transformed Malfoys?"

Ron turned to face her, but words failed him when he saw that she was wearing a sheet.

"You were flying like a drunken troll," Gudrun said. "I couldn't let you crash us while I was putting on my uniform."

"Right." He cleared his throat. "Malfoy's back and he's really powerful now. And he's got this power where he can transform other people into a likeness of himself. He can also control them—" Ron paused to swallow the lump out of his throat and get a better grip on his emotions "—and he can't be killed. Ginny tried. We found out that he can transfer the effects of the curse to any of the people he's transformed. It seems he transformed my brother George a couple of days ago."

Gudrun's eyes filled with shock. "He killed your—what can we do against someone like _that_?"

"Nothing. We can only stay out of Harry's way while he deals with him."

Gudrun gasped. "Harry's back?" Her light blue eyes quickly filled with hope.

Ron nodded. "It's not exactly Harry, though. It calls itself Phoenix. It's a combination between Harry and Wolfe. Looks like the prophecy came true after all. Just not in the way any of us expected it to."

*

To Phoenix it seemed like being able to see after a lifetime of blindness. He saw things the way they truly were. He perceived and understood the flow of magic around him. He could see the web that bound the enslaved wizards and witches to Korumu's stone, and saw the stone itself pulse with a foul sanguine light where Malfoy's heart used to be.

He sensed that Malfoy had chosen not to continue the confrontation on Phoenix's chosen battleground, and was preparing to leave. But Phoenix couldn't allow that. The stone's power would grow as more wizards and witches were enslaved by it, and if too many people were enslaved, there would be no way to stop Malfoy's onslaught.

Phoenix cast his own anti-Apparition spell on the region. "You're not going anywhere, Malfoy. We are going to end this here and now. You have every reason to be afraid. After I strip the stone's power from you and free the enslaved, I'll bring you to justice for all the evil you've done."

"I wasn't going anywhere."

"You're forgetting that Wolfe is part of me. I can read your thoughts. It seems you've gained that ability yourself…through some dark means," Phoenix said. "Always seeking outside power, because within you've always been weak and spineless. As Wolfe would say, you never had any _balls_. Ginny just corrected your outward appearance in accordance with your inner one." 

"You'll pay for that!" Malfoy snarled.

"I'm shaking in my boots," Phoenix retorted. "You know I'm much more powerful than you are. Be a good boy and sever the connection to Korumu's stone. I can't promise you leniency from the authorities, but at least you'll spare yourself the humiliation.

"Think you're more powerful, do you? What you see now is only a hint of what I'm capable of. You've stood in my way for the last time!" Malfoy said, as he steadily built up the same filthy red aura the stone was producing within him.

Phoenix saw the auras of all the stone's slaves diminish to near-nothingness. Malfoy was leeching every available ounce of power out of them, and one by one they fell unconscious. His overall power was soon concentrated around the stone now, and it easily equalled Phoenix's.

"Scared?" Malfoy drawled

"You wish," Phoenix said, though he definitely felt a growing amount of concern.

"You thought you were fighting a madman, but now you've realised that you're fighting a god!" Malfoy cackled. "We've seen that you can stop the Killing Curse. Let's see how you fare against _this_."

A Quaffle-sized orb of the same colour as Malfoy's aura formed in his hand, and he hurled it at Phoenix.

Phoenix tried to channel the present magical currents around the projectile to redirect it like he'd redirected the Killing Curses, but to no avail. He barely managed to evade the projectile, feeling a sharp pain in his side as it grazed him. 

The projectile exploded behind him, causing a small earthquake and creating narrow but deep fissures in the ground. Dust was all around him, and he couldn't see Malfoy until it was too late to dodge the vicious uppercut that would've taken anyone else's head clean off. As it was, the energy of the impact lifted him to his feet and sent him flying up into the clouds.

Unfortunately, the stone seemed to have increased Malfoy's intelligence as well. The memories provided by Harry and Wolfe portrayed Malfoy as someone who always stopped to gloat when he had a clear upper hand. Malfoy, who also appeared to be also capable of flying unaided, pursued him into the clouds, overtook him and smashed him back earthward.

Phoenix could only channel his inner magic, hoping that he'd strengthened his body enough for the imminent impact. His earth-shattering crash didn't stop at the surface. The rocky island's soil violently broke apart around Phoenix's body as the sheer force of his crash drove him into the ground.

Fighting to stay conscious, he shoved a few boulders aside and rolled onto his back. He was immediately faced with dozens of sanguine-coloured magic projectiles raining down into the crater he was lying in. Not all of them were accurately aimed, but the ones that seemed to be headed towards him would finish him off easily. Some of them hit, further battering Phoenix's injured form. The others collapsed the walls of the crater. Boulders of all sizes rolled down the slopes and piled on top of him, obscuring the light of day.

The pressure of the boulders on his broken ribs, along with all the blood from his internal injuries made it hard to breathe. Pain blossomed along his broken jaw as he clenched his teeth. It couldn't end like this. The consequences for his friends and family would be devastating. Hermione and Ron would be tortured and finally killed. An earlier glimpse into Malfoy's depraved mind had revealed a fate worse than death awaiting Ginny and Holly. And Galatea—Malfoy would probably kill her and her unborn son to punish Phoenix posthumously for trying to stop him.

Phoenix clenched his unbroken left hand into a fist. Failure was _not_ an option. The burning in his lungs spread throughout his body, but the fiery sensation rapidly became a comforting warmth. He was suddenly breathing a lot easier, and the pain in his body drained away, leaving him revitalised. He'd experienced this type of healing once before, though it didn't come close to the intensity of the magic stealing through his form right now. 

Maybe Malfoy was thinking the fight was over, but as far as Phoenix was concerned, it was just starting. He concentrated, creating an expanding bubble of golden light that shifted the rubble away from him. The boulders at the top of his would-be tomb shattered, bringing the cloudy sky back into view, as well as an incredulous-looking Malfoy.

"We're not done, Malfoy!" Phoenix roared. "The whole world is crying out for your defeat, and I'm not about to let them down."

The anti-Apparition spell had faded while Phoenix had been weakened, and he was now going to use it to his advantage. Malfoy was oblivious when Phoenix reappeared behind him and kicked him down to the island below. Calculating Malfoy's trajectory, Phoenix Apparated again and appeared below Malfoy, catching him in the stomach with his outstretched arm. Malfoy spat out black blood as the driving fist decimated the internal organs clustered around the area. Then Phoenix grabbed Malfoy's hair with his left hand, drew his right hand away from Malfoy's belly and drove it into his nose with all strength available to him, sending him crashing into the ground while Phoenix held onto a clump of Malfoy's hair as a souvenir. "If I must… I'll take a piece of you at a time." 

Phoenix once again set up an anti-Apparition ward many miles in every direction, knowing that his enemy's escape would be disastrous. Malfoy was weakening, but he wasn't weak enough for the bond with the stone to be broken. Phoenix knew he had to be careful, for killing Malfoy while he harnessed all the life taken from his slaves meant killing the slaves too. That would effectively bring about the end of the Order of Illumination.

Phoenix watched as his nemesis crawled out of the crater created by his impact. Malfoy glared up at Phoenix while his flattened nose repaired itself. "You are not the only one who can regenerate."

"You won't be regenerating next time," Phoenix said. He stirred the power within himself, preparing to release it at Malfoy. He brought his wrists together in front of his abdomen and directed the energy flow to the space between his cupped hands. A ball of turquoise energy flared to life. "Try this on for size!"

A superior smirk appeared on Malfoy's face as the turquoise sphere hurtled towards him. At the last instant, he twisted to the left and the sphere shot past him.

"You're too slow," Malfoy drawled. "You didn't honestly believe that you'd hit me with that, did you?"

"Did you hear or feel any kind of explosion?" Phoenix asked calmly, unable to keep a smile of his face. The stone might have made Malfoy smarter, but deep down, Malfoy was still Malfoy.

"What are you talking about?"

"This!" Phoenix said, milliseconds before the turquoise ball hit Malfoy in the back. He'd been so busy patting himself on the back for dodging the projectile to begin with, that he hadn't considered the fact that it could change its path and come back at him like a Bludger. Malfoy's inability to sense the sphere approaching from behind also told Phoenix that Malfoy was as limited as he was when it came to sensing or affecting each other's special magical projectiles.

Knowing the time to strike was finally at hand, Phoenix dissolved his anti-Apparition spell again half a heartbeat after his attack hit Malfoy, who was momentarily weakened by Phoenix's attack. He appeared behind Malfoy, rendered his hand intangible with the special powers imparted on him by the pendants, and reached into the back of his enemy. He could feel the stone burn against his hand. It was nearly unbearable, as the stone resisted with all the magic inside it.

But Phoenix pressed on, knowing that Malfoy would Apparate away if he let go. And if that happened, all would be lost. He'd grow so powerful that it would be impossible to stop him. Bit by bit, Phoenix pulled his hand out of Malfoy's back. Then the stone was out and the web shattered. In his peripheral vision, Phoenix saw the assimilated wizards and witches take on their own form. Malfoy slumped forward, unconscious.

Korumu's Bloodstone was no longer burning in Phoenix's hand. It reached out to Phoenix and sought to communicate with him through Wolfe's ability.

"Don't bother," Phoenix spat. "You will be destroyed. I won't let you cause any more misery."

The stone began to burn again, conveying a menacing message.

Phoenix already knew it. The stone's destruction would cause an explosion that rivalled that of small Muggle nuclear weapon. It would be enough to kill even him. But he couldn't let that deter him. He looked up at the sky, where rays of sunlight were now poking through gaps in the dark clouds. The weather reflected the way things would be if he didn't follow through. Future generations would have struggle like those narrow columns of light, against the overwhelming dark clouds that didn't have a silver lining.

Phoenix took off, briefly wondering if Ginny and Galatea would support him in this decision as he made his way higher into the atmosphere. The thinning air and increasing cold didn't affect him one bit, another testimony to the power of the pendants, which created a thin protective layer around his body.

He cleared the ten miles of troposphere and continued on into the stratosphere, stopping at an altitude of nearly twenty-five miles. Ironically, it was a memory of the wizard-raised Wolfe which provided the passing thought that the pilots of the few Muggle experimental aircraft that reached that attitude needed special, pressurised suits to prevent their blood from literally boiling. The Dursleys had systematically deprived Harry of any such opportunity to learn anything outside of what was taught at school, or knowledge that could only be gathered outside Dudley's narrow interest in television programmes. Muggles…Phoenix briefly wondered what they would do to explain away the explosion.

As he held the stone cupped in his left hand while he cocked back his right arm, readying himself to deliver a crushing blow, he hoped he was high enough not to affect Muggle aeroplane traffic. He infused his right hand with every ounce of power he possessed, and drove it into the stone.

***

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Gogirl: The end is in sight. I'm proof reading the final chapter now, before sending it to my betas.

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LadySiri: The destruction of the evil stone would release a wave of energy akin to that of a small nuclear weapon. Korumu's Stone, a.k.a. the Periapt/Amulet of Absolute Power, is what keeps Korumu alive, much in the same way the One Ring keeps Sauron of LoTR alive. So the energy released by the destruction would kill Phoenix. (Harry/Wolfe) The destruction of the stone means that it's creator dies. And the death of its creator means that his twin brother, (Novoridu, the caretaker of the winds) dies too, because his existence is bound to his evil twin's.

Does that clarify things?

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Wand*Light: No, Merlin wasn't her teacher, and the identity of the teacher isn't really important. Harry being the griffin isn't an allusion to Ruskbyte's fics. The mythical griffin is often seen as a warlike yet virtuous totem, so I reckon Ruskbyte and I were inspired by the same source.

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Thoroughbred: The drama is far from over. You'll just have to wait and see.

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CatatonicReaction: Ruskbyte's fics tend to have slow-ish starts, that's true. But his style in general kept me hanging on until it got interesting.

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Jake: Yikes, I've been at this for a year!

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Foxfur: I heard that it hurts once the anaesthetic wears off. That true? Anyway, about Merlin: According to the legends Merlin has no father. In the older legends it was a nature spirit of some sort. The christianised version spoke of Merlin having been sired by an incubus, but cleansed from the evil heritage through baptism and retaining only the good stuff, like his magic. And no, I didn't mention this in the fic.

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nycgal: Remember, not a word about what we discussed. :-)

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Lady Reaper of the Shadows: How indeed.

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Stefanie: Moira, who is indeed the Mistress, learned how to absorb magical powers and did so left and right. She also took a Veela's powers, hence her appearance. I never mention this directly in the story but I dropped hints about it here and there.

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Ginny6S: Changed your name again? Chapter 38 is nearly finished as I type. You'll be getting it in the mail a few days after I post chapter 37.

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Fiona: Details? What details?

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jona: No, the prophecy is definitely Harry versus Wolfe, (if you re-read it carefully you'll see that the description fits Wolfe's sequence of events slightly better) although it was fun to watch you people puzzle about it. ;-) Actually, I made the two situations so similar on purpose.

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Lord Dreadnault: Good to see you're still reading.

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The Bronze Snidget: That's right. It is supposed to be unclear. If you need an explanation, look at the answer I left for **LadySiri**.

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~*Obsessed~with~Snuffles*~: I think the ending is best described as bittersweet. The final chapter will end on a positive note, of course. But to the characters it will hardly seem happy, with all the loss.

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Viva: Long time indeed. No, as far as I know stories like Ruskbyte's and mine are rare, and I don't know of any similar ones.

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Anthena McGonagall: Wow, my audience is more diverse than I thought.

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Earl: How did you like the showdown?

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rocket boy: The Matrix references are a joke. I'm not copying the Matrix for want of inspiration. 


	37. Ultimate Sacrifice

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Ultimate Sacrifice

Chapter 37

The explosion lit up the heavens, briefly making it seem like there were two suns in the sky. Waves of light rolled outwards from the centre of the explosion.

Ron's stomach churned. He couldn't imagine anything surviving that. Harry and George, dead on the same day. And Wolfe too. If Malfoy was still alive, he was going to pay.

"The one is gone, but there are two once again," Holly said. "They're alive. The last of the magic is keeping them warm and breathing, but they won't survive the fall. I have to catch them. You have to let me out, quickly!"

Gudrun didn't argue. She patched into the speaker of the lower deck. "Hermione, I'm going to open the ventral access hatch so Holly can jump out, so make sure no one is sitting there." She turned to Holly. "Go on down."

Holly hurried over to the levitation surface, which took her down in the blink of an eye.

"Is there anything _we _can do?" Ron asked worriedly. "D'you think she can catch both of them in time?"

"If anyone can, it's her. I read some reports about the weeks that Ironheart was chasing her. Before she learned to Apparate she just flew away every time. They've measured her speed at over two thousand miles an hour. She can cover enough sky to catch them before they fall into the lake. We ought to worry more about whether the magic that's keeping them alive will remain effective until they Holly gets to them. They were only about six miles shy of the ozone layer. It's a fifteen-mile drop to the atmosphere's cold-trap—which by itself can freeze them to death at minus a hundred and thirty-three degrees Celsius. Then it'll be at least another five miles before the air becomes marginally breathable for anyone without Holly's powers—ah, there she goes."

Holly had shot out from beneath the Cruiser and was rising at a dizzying speed, and Gudrun accelerated the Cruiser to keep up with her.

"How does she go so fast?" Matt asked.

"Same way we're doing it," Gudrun said. "In case you haven't noticed, the Cruisers aren't aerodynamic. There's an invisible conical shield in front of us that forces the air aside when we fly at high speeds. Holly creates the same type of shield on a smaller scale. Her flight is magical. Those wings are mostly for show."

"Her shield protects her passengers too, right?" Ron asked

"I'm not sure she's ever carried any before she caught Montalban and Farouk today, but I'd have to say yes. I'm more concerned with whether she'll be able to give them some kind of life support at high altitudes. I know she can survive there herself, but I'm not sure she can share that ability with a passenger. We'd best take precautions," Gudrun decided, and keyed the speaker of the lower deck again. "Hermione, we're going very high. I want to slide down the inner bulkhead so Holly will be able to fly in through the loading ramp if she needs to, without me having to decompress the entire lower deck. Is everyone behind the safety line?"

"Yes, go ahead," Hermione replied a few moments later.

"Gudrun, she's slowing down," Matt warned. They'd been ascending for about two minutes. The altimeter indicated that they were at an altitude of about nineteen miles. 

Gudrun adjusted the Cruiser's speed to match Holly's, and followed her into a steep dive.

Ron saw Holly closing in on a falling body. It was Harry, completely naked save for the faint golden aura surrounding him. The explosion must have ripped his clothes to shreds.

"I've opened the loading ramp. Let's hope she gets the idea," Gudrun said, as she surged downwards and overtook Holly's dive.

"She's dropped him into the hold. Close the ramp and re-pressurise!" Hermione said.

Ron heaved a sigh of relief. One down, one to go.

Gudrun manipulated a few controls. "There. It'll take three seconds. The inner bulkhead will rise enough for you to pull him in when re-pressurisation is—damn, where'd she go?"

"To the left," Ron said, glad that he'd kept track of Holly while Gudrun's attention had been elsewhere.

"Got her," Gudrun nodded, and banked the Cruiser in pursuit of Holly. "The explosion must have hurled Wolfe in the opposite direction. Holly's gone to top speed again."

"I think she's having trouble finding him," Matt said, when there still wasn't any sign of Wolfe after four minutes.

"She'd better find him fast," Hermione's voice came through the speaker. "Harry's protective aura is fading, and he wasn't in great shape when I got him. He was showing signs of oxygen deprivation, but he's looking better now."

Gudrun groaned. "We're still eleven miles up. We're about to enter the cold-trap."

"Wait, she's found him!" Matt exclaimed, pointing at Holly moving towards a distant speck and slowing down in her approach to match its speed.

"Bloody hell, there's almost nothing left," Ron cursed. As they got closer, he only spotted the barest traces of the protective aura on Wolfe.

"If we don't get him in here soon, he'll die of exposure to the low pressure and the cold," Gudrun said. "Hermione, you'll have to tell me the moment they're inside. A second can mean the difference between life and death."

"She's got him, get under them," Matt coached.

Gudrun deftly slid the Cruiser into position.

"Holly's inside. Close the ramp," Hermione shouted.

"Closing the ramp!" Gudrun confirmed.

Ron shot out of his seat and headed towards the levitation surface. The segmented inner bulkhead still separated Hermione, Harry and Ginny from Wolfe and Holly when the levitation surface touched the floor of the lower deck. The red light on the ceiling turned green after a second or so, and the inner bulkhead slid upwards.

Wolfe was in Holly's arms, and her wings were wrapped around him. Ron had to shield his eyes from the light she was producing. The process lasted much longer than it had when Holly had repaired Hermione's womb. When the light receded, Ron saw that Wolfe must have been seriously hurt. His cheeks were covered in blood, making Ron suspect that his eyes had been bleeding.

Wolfe's first sign of life was a soft moan. In a flash, Hermione was bending over him, prying his eyelids open and rinsing the blood out with gentle sprays of water from her wand. "Max, can you hear me?"

"Yeah," Wolfe croaked. "Harry?"

"I'm okay," Harry said. 

"No you're not," Ginny said, pressing him back onto a conjured stretcher. "Take it easy."

Harry's eyes met Ron's when he sat down next to Ginny, alongside Harry's stretcher. "I'm sorry about George. If I'd got here sooner—"

"It's all Malfoy's fault," Ron cut him off. "Not yours, and not Ginny's." 

Ginny shied away from his penetrating stare, and began to sob softly. 

Harry struggled upright and put his arms around her. "Malfoy won't get away with this." 

"No, he won't," Wolfe said. "Err, can I have something to wear? I feel naked."

Hermione smiled weakly. "You _are_ naked." Then she conjured him a blanket and proceeded to wrap it around Wolfe when Holly had removed her wings.

"What's that on your chest?" Ron asked, seeing a mark where Wolfe wasn't covered.

"Looks like a scar," Wolfe said. "It's shaped like the pendant I wore."

"What happened to the pendants?" Ginny asked.

"Destroyed," Wolfe replied shortly.

"Harry's got it too," Hermione said. "But on him it's still a burn. Holly, couldn't you heal Max cleanly?"

Holly shook her head slowly. "The lingering magic wouldn't let me take away the scar."

"Are you all right?" Hermione asked, suddenly worried. Ron too had noticed that Holly looked rather peaky.

"Just tired," Holly said.

"It's because you've healed Max, isn't it?"

"And the others today. I haven't had time to recover. Don't worry, I'll be all right. I'll go upstairs to rest," she said, and rose with visible difficulty before she slowly walked over to the levitation surface.

"Don't worry, Ginny. I'm sure she'll be all right," Harry said.

Ginny looked at him oddly. "How'd you know I was worrying?"

"I'm not deaf, you know."

"But I didn't say anything."

Harry frowned. "I know what I heard."

"Merlin's beard," Ron exclaimed, his mind making the connection. "Harry, you can read minds! I reckon the abruptness of your separation and the destruction of the pendants has something to do with it. Hermione, d'you think it's permanent?"

"Harry was still a Parselmouth after Voldemort died, wasn't he? So I'd have to say yes. I wonder if it works both ways?" she said, drawing her wand. "_Serpensortia!_"

A snake shot out of her wand and landed on the deck, hissing and looking around.

"Talk to it," Harry told Wolfe.

Wolfe's reply came in Parseltongue, causing the snake to twist around and regard him with curious eyes.

"Look away from the snake when you're trying to talk to us, Wolfe," Harry instructed.

Wolfe looked up. "Why?"

Harry smiled. "Because when you asked what you ought to say, it was in Parseltongue."

Wolfe blinked. "It was?"

"Yes."

"Wow."

"I know exactly how you feel," Harry said. "So, how do I read minds? Or maybe I ought to ask how to shut it off. Ron and Hermione are thinking too loudly."

Hermione, who had just vanished the snake, blushed slightly.

"If you want silence you'll have to find Crabbe and Goyle," Ron said. A sharp jab of emotional anguish punished him for his forced attempt at humour. Crabbe and Goyle reminded him of Malfoy, and Malfoy had killed George.

"I'm going to check on Holly," Ginny said suddenly, mercifully drawing attention away from Ron.

"I'm afraid this isn't as straightforward as speaking Parseltongue," Wolfe said to Harry, after Ginny had gone to the upper deck. "You'll have to suffer for a while, but eventually you'll learn to tune out the outside chatter." He paused, looking at the blanket wrapped around him. "Hmm, I suppose our clothes were destroyed by the explosion?"

"Can't imagine anything else being the cause," Ron said.

"Then it's a safe bet our wands have been destroyed too."

Ron nodded.

"Great, I don't have a wand to curse Malfoy with," Harry grumbled.

Wolfe looked at George's lifeless form, sighed, and faced Harry again. "You might not need one."

After briefly meeting Wolfe's gaze, Harry shook his head. "No, I don't think I'll ever be able to do what Phoenix did. That was the result of our combined power. And maybe the pendants augmented our power too."

"The rest of us can't read minds, so could you two please use speech?" Hermione asked.

"I told Harry that I think he'll be able to do almost everything that Phoenix did," Wolfe explained. "Maybe I saw it because I have more experience with accessing the power within, but I can almost picture the power we wielded in my mind. Though I made a contribution too, I'd say that about sixty to sixty-five percent of Phoenix's power came from Harry. I reckon he'll never be as powerful as Phoenix was, yet the golden aura of power ought to be achievable for him if he works really hard at it."

"But the pendants—" Harry began, before Wolfe cut him off.

"_Focussed_ our powers more than anything else. I'm fairly sure they didn't boost Phoenix's power. They did have some enchantments on them that gave Phoenix some abilities he otherwise wouldn't have had. I can feel some powers within me that I didn't have before," Wolfe said. Then he grinned and turned to Hermione. "Don't worry, little sister. You'll get plenty of opportunities to analyse Harry and me."

Ron frowned, wondering what sort of powers could Wolfe be talking about.

"When the pendants clasped together and we became Phoenix, we gained access to the magic of the pendants. It was like having a book with lots of spells inside your head, and you'd instantly know how to do the spells."

"Without a wand?" Ron asked.

"That's what the pendants were for. They focussed the spells like a wand would focus normal spells." Harry frowned and looked at Wolfe. "Are you sure we still have that magic?"

"You need to learn to quiet your mind, look inside yourself and see the magic," Wolfe said. "_I_ can see your magic—"

"How can you see his magic?" Ron interjected.

"For the same reason my ability was duplicated in Harry, and his was duplicated in me." Wolfe touched the scar on his chest. "We're connected now."

"And how!" Harry added. "I've got loads of memories in my head that don't belong to me."

"Same here. I know everything Harry knows. A lot of crazy things have been happening while I was gone," Wolfe said, eyeing Harry curiously.

Harry managed a half-hearted grin. "Hard to believe, isn't it?"

Ron sighed. Normally this wealth of information would have captivated him. But every time he glanced at his brother's body, his mind lost focus as it was swarmed by other thoughts.

Odds were that his mum already knew because of the clock. He'd have to go to the Burrow as soon as possible to tell her how it happened. Though Malfoy's capture and eventual punishment wouldn't bring George back, it might soothe her anguish a bit when the immediate pain had faded. The same went for Angelina—Ron barely suppressed a wince as his thoughts crossed his sister-in-law. She'd been widowed for the second time in a relatively short period. Six children had lost their father. It was enough to make Ron's blood boil again.

Hermione wrapped her arms around him, and it made him feel a bit better.

"I can't say I've lost a brother, but I know how you feel. And seeing the pain he's caused you, I want to hurt Malfoy in the worst way too. But if we indulge ourselves like that, we allow him to dictate our actions and it'll be another victory for him," Wolfe said.

Ron snorted. "If you knew how I felt you wouldn't be so philosophical about it. You were too young to remember when _your_ family was killed."

Wolfe's eyes narrowed. "You need to redefine your perception of family. George wasn't Harry's brother, but Harry is hurting as much as you are. George was _his_ family too. Though I tried very hard to keep my distance, I've ultimately come to regard many fellow Rangers as family, and it _hurt_ me when they died. I've seen too many of them killed, and I felt anger every single time. Sometimes I indulged my thirst for revenge, and when I did, I changed bit by bit. Not for the better, either. It made me willing to risk your sister's life by allowing Malfoy to take her. Or have you forgotten about that?"

He was right. But Ron couldn't help the way he felt right now.

"Pain is good. But you shouldn't let it consume you or control your actions."

"You're right," Ron ground out the words reluctantly.

"Malfoy _will_ pay for what he's done. Justice will be served. But if you take things into your own hands, you'll find that it doesn't offer the closure you seek. It'll add to the hollow feeling."

"I get the point," Ron snapped. He closed his eyes. "Sorry, I just—"

"You don't have to apologise."

"And don't carry the burden of your grief alone," Harry added.

*

"Though one might be tempted to say that the overall outcome today has been positive, even the relatively few losses we've incurred are too high a price," Ironheart said pensively. "I would have gone to Mrs Weasley's to personally extend my condolences, but over the years I've found out that grief-stricken women are particularly vulnerable to my demon side. Though I can control the demon better than I could in my youth, there is always a danger."

And the commander didn't want to compromise his professional relationship with Ron and Ginny. "I understand."

"Yes, you do. It's an advantage of your new ability. Though I should tell you that at times, it is somewhat of a curse. You'll eavesdrop without meaning to, and sometimes the information is quite private."

Harry nodded. He definitely hadn't wanted to read Montalban's mind while he'd been fantasising about Captain Kovalenko.

"Yes, that is precisely what I'm talking about," Ironheart said. 

Harry perceived a thought that had managed to slip through one of the cracks in Ironheart's otherwise well-shielded mind. Ironheart's bashful grin resembled that of the proverbial boy caught with his hand in the cookie jar. It reconfirmed something that Harry already knew, and he realised he'd got the knowledge from Wolfe's memories. Captain Kovalenko was one of the many women Ironheart had been with. "You didn't…" he muttered feebly.

"I couldn't help it. When Ranger Larsson died, she was so distraught I couldn't just let her be. That's Martin, not Rolf," Ironheart clarified quickly.

Harry rolled his eyes. "So _you_ took it upon yourself to comfort her?"

"This stays between you, me and Max, all right?" Ironheart said in a hushed voice. "If Nehanda finds out there will be hell to pay. All these years I held her off with the reason that I didn't want to get involved with a colleague."

"You broke your own rule, sir."

"I didn't mean to sleep with Irina, but when you're half-incubus sometimes you can't control it. I admit that at times I hid behind my heritage as an excuse to indulge myself, but that time it really was an accident. I mean, think about it, eh! If Nehanda ever finds out it will be disastrous for the Order. Do you actually believe I would have taken such a risk for one afternoon of passion?"

Harry would have been sceptical, except that he was now able to read the commander's mind. The old man seemed sincere enough.

"If Commander Nomvete were to find out, what would happen?"

"She'd make the remainder of my years in the Order extremely difficult. And seeing that I violated the rule I gave her as an excuse to keep her at bay, she'd insist on equal treatment, if you know what I mean."

"Not completely unreasonable if you ask me," Harry frowned. "Sir, if I may be so bold—"

Ironheart smirked. "Why I never gave Nehanda what she wanted? No, she isn't an unattractive woman, and in her younger days she had a number of suitors. Truth is, there are several reasons why not. First of all, my wife would give me too much grief because she sees Nehanda as her chief rival. No idea how she reached that conclusion, but she threatened to leave me if I ever did anything with Nehanda."

"Wouldn't Captain Kovalenko be worse? I mean, she was best friends with your eldest daughter, wasn't she? A woman young enough to be your daughter—"

Ironheart cut him off. "Don't remind me."

"So if your wife finds out about Captain Kovalenko, she'll leave you?" Harry asked.

"Technically, I never made any promises about any _other_ female Rangers. Just Nehanda," Ironheart chuckled.

"Honestly, sir, we both know that hardly makes it an excuse. You might as well go ahead and sleep with Commander Nomvete."

"I would, except for one thing."

Harry eyed him expectantly. "Which is?"

"I made a promise to myself that there would be at least one woman in my life whom I could love platonically—besides any women related to me, of course. I've worked closely with Nehanda for the better part of my life, and I care a great deal about her."

"Can't you pick another female Ranger as the object of your vow?"

Ironheart raised his eyebrows. "Are you encouraging me to find a way around my vow?"

Harry chuckled. "I don't mean it like that, sir. I'm just thinking of a way to defuse situation if Commander Nomvete were to find out. Not that she'd hear it from me, but you never know. And if you just indulge her, that wouldn't be a problem anymore, right?"

"I can't just shift my vow to someone else at this point…that would be cheap. Besides, I don't have a long professional relationship with the younger female Rangers, so it wouldn't be the same anyway."

"So what about the older women? Captain Chipeta, Sanzotti and Yee each have been in the Order around for over thirty years now, right? Don't they qualify for long, strictly professional relationships?"

"Actually—"

Ironheart didn't have to finish his sentence, and Harry didn't even have to read his mind. The commander's sheepish grin gave him away. "Oh, you didn't," he groaned. "Which one? All three of them? Wait, don't answer that, I don't want to know. And Basham let all of this just happen? Or did you shag her too?" Harry immediately regretted that final sentence. "Sorry, that was uncalled for."

Ironheart smiled. "That's all right. As for your earlier suggestion, I'm afraid I can't indulge Nehanda. She sees my wife as her rival too. If anything were to happen between us, I'm sure she'd call my wife to gloat."

Harry groaned. "I did _not_ want to know any of this."

Ironheart nodded sympathetically. "I've often felt the same way you did. Consider keeping my secret a means of practising to keep all the other secrets you will stumble upon."

Harry massaged his temples to soothe the headache that had suddenly taken residence in his skull. This ability was going to cause trouble for sure. He needed to start a fresh topic. Anything would be better than dwelling on the Commander's escapades. "Is everyone free of Malfoy's influence?"

"Yes. When you pulled the stone out the web was broken. Nobody remembers a thing, except _me_."

"How is that possible?"

"I'm not sure, though when we were looking the element that set me apart from the other wizards who'd been assimilated, a possible answer came quite easily to us."

"Mind Reader," Harry voiced the commander's thoughts.

Ironheart nodded. "My mind can extract thoughts and memories from others, and remember them. The downside to this is that my head feels about ready to explode. I'm heading to Caer Sidi to empty my mind. Matthias will answer any other questions you may have."

"Yes, sir."

"And Harry, thanks for saving our hides today. You saved the world from catastrophe."

Harry sighed. "Story of my life."

Ironheart's laughter died as the Portkey whisked him away. Harry set off to find Captain Faust. He waded through a crowd of confused wizards, bumping into Lee Jordan along the way. His merry face told Harry that he hadn't heard about George yet. Harry gathered his courage and broke the information to Lee as directly as possible. Then he directed him to where Ron or Ginny would likely be.

Leaving a shocked Lee behind, his resolve to make Malfoy pay grew with every step he took. The unceasing buzz of thoughts around him also added an unwelcome degree of agitation. On the bright side, it did allow him to find Faust faster. The captain's thoughts rang like a buoy in the darkness. He was extremely vexed about the fact that Medea Aconit and Yamato had got away—Medea Aconit? Hadn't she been delivered to the French ministry after her capture at Caer Sidi?

"The French let Aconit get away?"

"It looks like they did." Faust twisted his moustache nervously. He froze, still pinching the left tip of his moustache between thumb and index finger. His thoughts became jumbled as many questions raced through his mind.

Harry tried to answer his questions as best as he could. "Yes, I'm alive. No, I didn't kill Wolfe. He and I became a single being and I was able to expel the parasitic personality. When we destroyed Korumu's stone—"

"Whose stone?"

"The Periapt of Absolute Power was created by a Draconian called Korumu," Harry explained, before he continued. "So when the being that was comprised of me and Wolfe destroyed the stone, the medallion that sustained the fusion enchantment was destroyed, separating us. Separation wasn't meant to happen that way. The normal way would have been to unclasp the medallion and turn it into two tear-shaped pendants again. But the separation by the destruction of the pendants had some side effects. Wolfe became a Parselmouth, and I'm a Mind Reader now. Try not to be too surprised. I'm still at the stage where the constant buzz of thoughts is a bit overwhelming. Your astonishment will make it worse."

"Ah," Faust replied. To his credit, he was doing his best to keep his mind as blank as possible. "So you _did_ read my mind."

Harry nodded. "And I read nothing about Malfoy. Please tell me he didn't get away, too?"

"Don't worry, he's still unconscious, so he didn't go anywhere. What did you do to him? I'm sorry you have to tell the story all over again, but it seems only Donovan can remember anything from the time he was part of the web."

"I knew I had to weaken him to extract the stone, which was a part of him. But I didn't really try to hurt him. I reckon being reduced to his insignificant self upon separation with the stone must have been very taxing."

"It definitely must have been. He won't respond to resuscitation spells."

"He'll live, won't he?"

Faust raised his eyebrows. "I didn't think _you'd_ be concerned."

"I'm not," Harry growled. "I don't want him to escape his punishment through death, that's all."

"I see. Well, the Healers say he doesn't seem to be in danger of dying just yet."

"Good."

"Oh, I nearly forgot. We caught another henchman of Yamato's. I believe the British Ministry of Magic has been looking for this fellow a while."

Harry's new ability meant that he didn't have to waste time guessing. "Peter Pettigrew?"

"Also known as Wormtail."

Harry couldn't help grinning broadly. He knew George wouldn't have minded if he'd still been alive, and that made him feel slightly better about his glee. "Thanks, I really needed some good news."

"You're most welcome," Faust said. "Shall I take you to them?"

"Lead on," Harry said, and began to mentally prepare himself for the sight of Malfoy. He didn't want to lose his composure and kill Malfoy, no matter how tempting it would be. He barely managed not to snap when they arrived at the _Notus_, where Kozminski was working on Malfoy.

"Any progress?" Faust asked.

"Complete physical exhaustion," Kozminski answered. "Evgenia's brewing a powerful restorative. It's a simple merging of two existing restoratives and adding a few ingredients. It won't take more than an hour."

"Excellent. The sooner we can interrogate him, the better."

A glint on Draco's little finger attracted Harry's attention. The silver ring with the green gem was unmistakable. It had looked much better the day he'd bought it. So good, in fact, that it had never occurred to him that the ring had Slytherin colours. Now he was fairly certain that he'd overpaid. In retrospect, it would have been a good idea to bring Hermione along.

He opened his hand and concentrated on Malfoy's finger. The ring slid off it and soared into Harry's hand. "I believe this belongs to Ginny," he muttered.

"That's the original ring? The one the hexed control ring replaced?" Faust asked.

"Yeah," Harry slid the ring into the pocket of his oversized robe. Not being a natural seamstress and thus not being a good judge of male sizes, Hermione had attempted to shrink it a little while he'd been wearing the robes, hoping to make it easier to produce a proper fit. But what seemed to have been residual magic from the pendant had prevented the charm from working properly. According to Hermione, her healing spells hadn't worked as well as they should have, either. Wolfe said that the block would wear off soon, and that Hermione's healing spells and Shrinking Charm would complete themselves.

"Where is Pettigrew?" Faust asked.

Kozminski grinned and pointed to a cage that stood on top of a crate. "We forced him back into his Animagus form. He won't revert back to human form until we let him."

"He's skulked around as a rat for a long time. I'm sure a couple of days in rat-form won't be that uncomfortable," Faust laughed, and Wormtail squeaked in protest from his cage. 

Harry smiled, unable to block out the pleasure he was taking in Pettigrew's distress. The spell of trapping an Animagus in his animal form was the exact opposite of being forced to revert to human form. A minor twist of the incantation, however, and it would be permanent, unless it was undone by a more powerful spell. "Stop whining, Wormtail. Everyone—your former Death Eater mates included—thought you made a better rat than a human."

The rat fell silent.

Kozminski laughed. "Well said. That certainly got him to shut up."

Harry grinned and turned to Faust. "Got a communicator handy? I want to be here when Malfoy wakes up."

Faust handed Harry his own communicator.

"Ginny," Harry answered, before Faust asked his question.

It wasn't too hard to find her. Where Faust's frustration had made him stand out, Ginny's grief was doing the same thing. He knew she was close by, but he couldn't see her anywhere. Something akin to a sixth sense made him look up. He saw her, sitting on the ventral surface of the _Boreas' _hull, casting a tearful gaze into the distance

Before the idea to Apparate had even crossed his mind, he found himself standing in front of her.

She was visibly startled by his sudden appearance, but relaxed when she recognised him. He could tell she wanted to be alone, but he thought it would be better for her to have some company.

"May I join you?"

Ginny shrugged. It was neither a yes nor a no, but Harry chose to interpret it as a positive answer and he sat down next to her, drawing his knees up under his chin and wrapping his arms around his legs. He was mimicking Ginny exactly, and she noticed.

"What are you doing?"

"I'm seeing how comfortable your position is. So far I don't like it."

Ginny almost smiled. "This is not a time to joke around."

"Sometimes you have to laugh, or you'll cry. It's a rule Fred and George lived by. They wouldn't have wanted you to take it this hard," Harry said, feeling Ginny's resistance to his words. "I know what you're thinking, partly because I'm a Mind Reader now. But even if I hadn't been one, I would have imagined how you felt. It's like Cedric."

"No, it-it isn't. Y-You didn't try to kill Voldemort, only…to have him pass the deadly energy to Cedric," she said in between sniffs.

"Don't take it so literally," Harry said. "What I'm trying to say is that both were decisions that took a turn for the worse."

"But you didn't know the cup was a Portkey."

"And _you _didn't know what Malfoy was capable off. It was beyond your control," Harry said soothingly.

"I should have suspected something when I saw all those Malfoys."

"You didn't begin cursing randomly," Harry reminded her. "You did your best to find out who the real one was. Ginny, the ability to repel the Killing Curse goes beyond the imagination of every witch and wizard in the world. You say you should have expected it, but we both know that you _couldn't_ have."

"But if I hadn't—"

"_If_ Tom Riddle's father had accepted his mother and loved his son, the boy would have lacked the hatred that made him take Slytherin's doctrine so seriously."

Ginny blinked the tears out of her eyes. She found it odd to hear Harry defend Voldemort like that.

"I'm not really defending him. I believe—like Professor Dumbledore did—that Voldemort would have been less likely to make the choices he made if he'd grown up knowing love. Yes, I know that _I_ turned out all right even though my early childhood was somewhat similar to Riddle's," he said, voicing her thoughts and cutting off her question. "But believe me, Ginny, I was far more fortunate than Tom Riddle. Being the Boy Who Lived had its advantages. In the beginning everyone was kind to me, even though most of that kindness was due to celebrity worship. Still, it gave a positive spin to my first exposure in the wizarding world. If I'd been an anonymous half-blood raised by Muggles who didn't care, things might have gone differently. I imagine I could easily have grown bitter, like Tom Riddle did.

"The letters in _if_ are the middle letters in life," Harry continued. "Life is full of ifs. But once the moment has passed, it's no use to dwell on what might have been. The pendants gave Phoenix the ability to deal with Malfoy. But if I hadn't possessed that knowledge, and if I'd been in your shoes when confronted with all those Malfoys, I'd probably have reacted the same way on seeing the ring."

Harry extracted the ring from the robe's pocket. "D'you remember the day I gave it to you?"

"No, Harry, I completely forgot about the happiest day of my life," Ginny said. Though it was probably meant as light sarcasm, Harry couldn't discern any trace of sarcasm in her tone or her feelings. She was completely numb inside.

"I suppose it was a dumb question—was it _really_ the happiest day of your life?"

"Yes," Ginny said, the corners of her mouth almost turning up to form a smile. She was beginning to come out of her emotional shock too. "What's yours?"

'The night you told me we'd be together forever."

Ginny's mood shifted abruptly. "Times change, Harry!" she snapped angrily. "The two of us _can't_ be together. The moment has passed. Don't dwell on what might have been," she added, viciously using his own words against him.

"You say you keep getting hints that the two of us getting together would be a disaster. What if I told you that I think this ring coming back now is a hint that things might be able to go back to the way they were?"

"Then we're clearly not seeing things in the same light." 

She plucked the ring off the palm of his hand and tossed it away. It cleared the Cruiser's hull and fell out of sight.

"If I hadn't seen that ring, George would still be alive!" Ginny yelled. "How much more obvious a hint does it have to be for you to understand? Things _can't_ go back to the way they were."

Harry opened and closed his mouth. There was no answer to that. Could it be that she was _right_? No, that couldn't be true. Even though he doubted he'd get through to her, he began to prepare an argument, hoping that he could convince her to believe that all the obstacles had been removed. A signal from Captain Faust's communicator forced him to put it off. "They're going to revive Malfoy." Harry had to force himself to look at her. "Are you coming?"

"In a minute," Ginny replied tonelessly.

Harry reckoned that it was best to allow her some time to compose herself. "All right."

*

Ginny quickly wiped away the nascent tears. Why couldn't Harry see what she saw? She didn't want to hurt him like this, but if he kept harbouring the illusion that the two of them could get together without anyone else suffering the consequences, it was inevitable.

Ginny knew it wouldn't be a good idea to Apparate like Harry had. Between her grief for George and her anger towards Malfoy, she was upset enough to splinch herself. Instead she lowered herself through the Cruiser's dorsal hatch onto the bridge. Doc was peering at runes scrolling across the mirror screen. Holly was looking over his shoulder inquisitively.

"Where are they keeping Malfoy?" she asked Doc, remembering that Harry hadn't told her where to go.

"_Notus_," the half-goblin replied, not looking away from his screen.

"Thanks," Ginny said, and turned to Holly. "Have you rested?"

Holly nodded. She still looked a bit pale, though loads better compared to a few hours ago. She joined Ginny on the levitation surface, which took them to the lower deck. "You're angry," she said, while they were walking down the loading ramp.

"Malfoy has a lot to answer for," Ginny replied tersely. She could feel Holly's gaze on her. Sometimes it almost seemed like Holly could read minds too.

"Will you let your anger prevent you from loving Harry?"

Ginny stopped and whirled around to face Holly. "Of course not. I'll always love Harry. You know why I can't be together with him."

Holly shook her head. "I know why you think you can't be with him. I heard what you told him on top of the ship."

"It's impolite to eavesdrop."

"I wasn't eavesdropping. I have very good hearing."

Ginny folded her arms. "All right. But you _understand_, don't you?"

"I understand, yes. And I don't agree."

"Take a number," Ginny grumbled.

"You are angry, and in pain. You shouldn't be deciding these things now. You should allow the pain of your brother's death to lessen first. Then you can better decide on matters of the heart."

"I don't want to talk about this, Holly," Ginny warned.

Holly fell silent, and didn't utter another word on their way to the Cruiser.

When they arrived, Pavel Kozminski was pouring a smoking restorative down Malfoy's throat. Malfoy's body went rigid, and began to tremble as more and more potion poured into his body. Ginny knew it was one of the brew's side-effects. And like Hermione, who, along with Ron, was also there, she knew it tasted awful.

As he gained consciousness, Malfoy gurgled and spat out traces of the foul-tasting potion. He struggled briefly against his bonds, before slumping back in the reclining chair he was occupying.

He glared at Harry. "Think you've won, have you, Potter?"

"It isn't limited to my thoughts, Malfoy. It's a _fact_. Another fact is, that without Korumu's stone, you're the same worthless loser we all know and hate."

"If I'm that worthless, why have you revived me for interrogation?" Malfoy smirked.

"Your co-operation will determine whether or not you will be fed to the Dementors," Harry said. "We have ironclad evidence of you using the darkest sort of magic and kidnapped who knows how many wizards. Not to mention the fact that you killed George Weasley, and a Muggle bartender."

Malfoy smiled maliciously. "I didn't kill the Weasel twin. Your girlfriend did. Cast the _Priori Incantantem_ on her wand," he taunted, and turned to Faust. "Be grateful that I didn't choose to kill _you_!" 

Ginny dimly felt her nails digging into her palms. Her rage was numbing her to most physical sensations. She clasped her hands behind her back to prevent herself from reaching for her wand.

"You'll pay!" Ron spat.

"Will I? I'm sure I'll be given a fair trial, won't I? Everybody is expecting Draco Malfoy to be tried for his crimes, right?"

"You'll be tried in front of an international criminal court," Faust growled.

"Excellent!" Malfoy smirked. "I can already see the headlines in all the major newspapers. _Prisoner reveals unsavoury acts committed by wizarding world's top judges_. You'd be surprised how many backs these so-called guardians of justice have stabbed to attain their prestigious positions. I reckon lots of countries will simply drop their charges against me, lest I pull their skeletons out of the closet too."

"Or we could just make you the main course at Azkaban."

"Of course you could do that, Captain. But you know how suspicious wizards are when it comes to your Order. They'll suspect that you silenced me for a reason. _And_ you'll have to live with the knowledge that_ I beat you_ by playing by the rules," Malfoy drawled.

"Clearly you haven't heard about the purification crystal," Harry said slowly. "Unlike you, I didn't lose the ability to perform some powerful spells when the source of my transformation was destroyed. I still have knowledge of this purification crystal. You will be trapped until you let go of the evil inside you. If you get out, it means you've been rehabilitated. We'll only try you for highly illegal dark magic and exclude all the other charges, so a humane punishment like the purification crystal will be accepted as fitting the crime. It'll be clean and quick trial, an internal affair with minimal publicity, and you won't get the chance to stir up trouble and expose people."

"You can't do that!"

"Oh, but we can," Faust said. "You assimilated dozens of Rangers today. According to the recently restored treaties the Order of Illumination had with the International Confederation of Wizards, we get a go at you _first_!"

"Did I mention that refusal to let go of your evil inclination means you'll be locked in the crystal forever?" Harry added. "In case anyone wonders why you're not out yet, we'll be able to truthfully say that you haven't embraced your rehabilitation yet," he said, smiling broadly. "We'll put you in a place where no one will be able to help you get out from the outside, in case you still have some allies who are willing to try and break you out."

Malfoy's confident expression melted off his face when his eyes locked with Harry's. Whatever that purification crystal was, it had to be real, and not merely a bluff to unsettle Malfoy.

"You won't have the last laugh, Potter," Malfoy said. He looked at Holly with a manic gleam in his eye. "Your daughter was very pretty."

Then he uttered something that sounded like an incantation in an unintelligible language. The cage containing a rat exploded, and the rat grew into the shape of a small man whose glassy eyes suggested that he was in some sort of trance. Ginny recognised Peter Pettigrew.

Malfoy yelled something else, also in the same strange language, and Pettigrew pointed the index finger of his odd prosthetic hand at Holly. Time suddenly seemed to slow down as the part of Ginny's mind that had trained for battle situations took over and coolly assessed the scene before her. Ginny's instincts told her that the cleverly crafted hand held a deadly trap, but no one else appeared to understand the significance of Pettigrew's gesture. Harry alone seemed to suspect something was terribly amiss, but his lightning-fast grab for his wand came up empty, for he didn't have it anymore. By the time Ginny could have drawn her own wand, it would be much too late.

No. _Never_. Harry had lost his parents at a very early age. Malfoy couldn't be allowed to take Harry's own daughter away from him as well… Harry had lost too much already, and her loss would surely deal him a mortal wound from which he could never recover.

There was nothing else for it. Not when she could stop it. _Yes_.

Time sped up to its normal pace as the decision was made, and without a second thought, Ginny flung herself forward, twisting around as she struck and embraced a startled Holly, so that Ginny now stood between Pettigrew and Holly. Three sharp bursts of pain lanced through her spine and exploded across her back, and the sounds of screams—her own—or someone else's? —receded as the pain drove any other thought from her mind. It felt like all the cells in her body were on fire, slowly burning away, and she tasted a mixture of bile and blood in her mouth. Time seemed to slow once more as she was gently lowered to the ground, and the small part of her mind still numbed by battle-instinct registered disjointed fragments of the action around her as darkness nibbled on the edge of her vision—

—Malfoy, laughing like a madman as Faust, Kozminski and Ron Stunned Pettigrew—

—Harry, falling to his knees, his mouth open in horror so profound he couldn't even give voice to it—

—Hermione, shoving Holly aside and feverishly working with her wand over Ginny's torso—

Then, time began to move again. Her vision cleared just a little as there was movement at her side, and Harry gathered Ginny into his arms. His face was drained of colour, and his eyes were blank with shock, the green iris only a thin sliver around the wide and fathomless black pupils. Ginny dimly realised that she could no longer feel anything below her waist.

A moment later, Hermione sobbed in vexation. "The bolts completely severed her spine and the toxin is spreading through her nervous system too fast to counteract… I can't—_I can't save her!_"

Now her lungs began to seize up, refusing to take in enough air for her to breathe. Ginny knew she'd be dead soon. A combination of sorrow and fierce joy overtook her. At least she would see George again, soon. Then she could at least try to apologise for what she did to cause his death. Harry's wordless sob penetrated her thoughts. Harry… No. It was better this way, wasn't it? The darkness at the edge of her vision advanced again, and this time she let her eyes close.

Then something warm, light and soft covered her eyes.

It only took a few moments, but it seemed more like an eternity before the pain—the screaming, tearing, burning pain—finally receded into the darkness, replaced by numbness and light. Then the numbness was gradually replaced again by the normal sensations produced by her body. She felt feathers tickling her face, and Ginny realised that Holly was healing her. Finally, the wing slid off her, and Ginny opened her eyes, immediately meeting Harry's worried gaze.

"Ginny, are you all right?"

"I…think…so," Ginny said slowly. Fortunately there was no blood in her mouth, though a faint aftertaste still lingered. As she struggled to sit upright, her eyes fell across Holly, who gently held her down in Harry's arms. No one could mistake the wasted creature that was Holly for something that walked in the living world. Her skin was almost translucent, and the white feathers of her angelic wings were turning black. Her eyes were filled with pain and now _she_ was the one panting as if she couldn't draw a full breath.

Harry noticed it too. He reached for her, and Hermione, understanding his intention, quickly moved to support her, preventing her from falling over. "Holly, what's happening to you?"

"No… not now. _Not yet_," she gasped. Her unnaturally pale body shuddered. "I'm sorry, Ginny… I can't finish the healing. But you won't die now, and…the pain and weakness that remains will totally heal on its own. But you must rest completely for three moons…or the damage will be permanent." She looked up and smiled at Harry and Ginny serenely. "I have no more life left to give. But I've gladly given it."

"What? No! You'll be fine! You just need to rest." Harry said anxiously.

With visible effort, Holly's trembling hand rose up to stroke Harry's cheek. "I didn't know I was in danger. Ginny wanted to give her life to protect me. I chose to replenish her life with mine. The embers are cold. I'm only ashes."

Ginny's eyes burned and she had trouble seeing through her tears. "You shouldn't have done it," she sobbed. "Harry needs you more than he needs me. Take your life back!"

"I cannot. And even if I could… Harry needs _you_, Ginny. Things can't go back to the way they were. You were right about that. But you can always move forward and experience new joy, which will make up for the pain," Holly shivered and closed her eyes for a moment. When she spoke again, her voice was fainter. "You said that getting together with Harry means disaster, but you're wrong. _Not_ getting back together with Harry would mean disaster, because if you don't, all you'll ever have is the pain from the past without the joy from the future. You must not let your love be frightened and conquered by evil. You must defy it…"

"Holly… You can't die!" Harry sobbed. He turned to Hermione. "Hermione, can't you do something?"

Hermione looked helpless and shook her head.

"We'll see each other again, Daddy," Holly whispered. "Someday…"

"Don't…leave m-me."

"I'll never truly be gone." Holly reached down and plucked a couple of the few remaining white feathers out of her wing and placed them in Ginny's hand. "My spark… is part of _your_ fire now." She clasped Ginny's other hand and one of Harry's hands together between her own chilled hands. "Take care of my dad-dy…" she uttered with her last breath. Her eyes fell shut and her head sagged back on Hermione's shoulder. Then her body simply faded away into nothingness. One of the feathers she had given to Ginny remained a moment more, then flashed. A dazzling amethyst glow enveloped Ginny for a moment before fading into her body, leaving Ginny clutching a single feather, the only evidence that Holly had ever been in their lives. 

Harry's shoulders shook with silent sobs.

There was a sudden scuffling sound nearby.

"Ron, don't!" Faust bellowed.

Ginny weakly turned her head, the only movement she was strong enough to make. Ron was pointing his wand at Malfoy, who was still restrained in the chair, though someone had cast the full body bind on him. Pettigrew lay on the floor, unconscious.

"He has to die," Ron said, sounding remarkably calm, almost detached even.

Faust forced Ron's hand down. "I won't let him goad you into becoming a murderer. I'll take care of it myself."

A flick of the wand loosened the restraints on the chair, and with another flick, Malfoy's petrified body floated out of the Cruiser.

***

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Author's Note: Two-Four-Six-Eight, who's the evil guy you hate? Mwahahaha. Seriously, I'm not just being evil. Her death served a greater purpose.

***

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Wand*Light: I'm sorry I had to end Holly's development this abruptly.

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InDepthServitude: Yeah, that's where I got part of the inspiration from.

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Gogirl: You cursed prematurely. _Now _I'm a bastard.

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Foxfur: As always, you ask good questions.

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Earl: You guessed right, but lots of people did. I suppose I'm getting predictable at my old age.

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Catatonic Reaction: One more chapter.

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Potterscientist817: No, I don't hate Ginny.

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Lady RotS: Hope you don't mind my shortening your name. It's exhausting to type it every time. Did you enjoy this chapter?

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nycgal: No, Crystal isn't Harry's daughter. Mordecai's still around, don't worry. I can't give everyone screen time. BTW, I haven't forgotten about the e-mail I was going to send you. But it contains info that I'd like to withhold until the last possible instant.

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Alice of Wonderland: I don't remember seeing your name before. If I'm right, welcome aboard. If not, I apologise for my leaky memory. Either way, thanks for the encouragement.

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Zaz: Tadaa!

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Ginny1946: Actually, I think I caught Anne by surprise with that one too.

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Jake: I personally don't want to make Harry too powerful, which is why I destroyed the pendants.

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Lord Dreadnault: If only we could get JK Rowling to write beyond book seven.

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Casual Reader: Caught that little detail, did you?

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The Bronze Snidget: Phoenix was destroyed.

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Gypsydot: Ginny and Galatea will be fine, as you can see.

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LadySiri: I prayed. Did it work?

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Stefanie: Malfoy transferred the AK to George.

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Chloe Black: If the powers that be will allow it, there is going to be one more story. But don't expect it to come out for some time. I want to have it mostly done before I begin posting, so you may not see it until PoA the movie comes out. 


	38. Comforting and Consolation

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Disclaimer: This chapter is rated **R **for nudity in a decidedly sexual context.

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Comforting and Consolation

Chapter 38

Ron awoke to the sound of whistling birds and the feeling of the sun warming his face. He yawned and stretched his long limbs, his arms brushing the empty space next to him. He checked the little clock on the bedside table. It was a few minutes to seven, which was when Hermione's night shift would end.

He thought about extending the first truly good night's sleep he'd had in three months, but realised that he was going to have plenty to do today. It was Harry's birthday, after all, and though they weren't really going to celebrate it due to the fact that they were in mourning for George and Holly, Hermione had still decided to give the day a positive charge. Given the fact that she'd be asleep until at least two in the afternoon after she got home, that meant that _he'd_ have to work through the list of preparations.

He threw on his dressing gown and stumbled down two flights of stairs until he reached the kitchen where the cats—yes, that was plural, for Heidi's cat had more or less permanently moved into their home—were looking at him expectantly, waiting to be served breakfast. He began to rinse out the bowls.

"Sorry old chap, you'll have to do with less luxury today," he said, pouring dry food pellets into the bowl, before he filled the other two bowls with fresh water and milk.

Crookshanks looked at the still-open Perfect Preservation Cupboard, eyeing the plate with some leftover salmon that sat on one of the shelves.

"Not a chance. That's _my _breakfast."

Ron spent the next few minutes trying to ignore Annabelle and Crookshanks' mutinous meowing, until a boisterous drumbeat shook the kitchen door, which was also the back door to their home. The blinds were open just a bit, allowing Ron to discern Matt Kelly's face.

"Morning, Weaselman!"

Ron strolled over to the door to open it. It was a bit of a nuisance not to be able to open the door with magic, but it was a sensible safety precaution. "Morning, Kelly. I didn't expect you to be back 'till tomorrow."

"The mission went better than we thought. Not that my part was that hard anyway."

Ron nodded. He'd wondered why Matt had gone on a diplomatic mission like that. Ironheart had spent the past months filling Pensieve after Pensieve with other people's thoughts and memories. Yamato's memories had been among them. Very important had been the memories of Yamato's lairs, but they'd also stumbled across some rather incriminating evidence regarding Goro Hishida, chief counsellor to Emperor Sayuki. That had blown the conspiracy to take over from the Sayuki wide open.

"What _did_ you do, anyway?"

"Nothing much. Mainly I just had to stand alongside Commander Ironheart and be my devastatingly handsome self. The commander thought it would be a good idea for me to be there personally, since Matsu, Yuriko and Shinji had been living on my estate and that made me something akin to their feudal lord, in the eyes of the Japanese. He said that, if nothing else, the presence of a wizard richer than their emperor would unsettle them into breaking their rigidity. In the end I was sort of useful," Matt chuckled heartily. "I had to confirm Nicolai's engagement to Mary."

Ron, who had been pouring tea into his mug, accidentally spilled hot tea over his hand as Matt's words registered. Hissing, he quickly put the teapot and the mug down, hopped over to the sink and allowed cold water to pour over the mildly burnt skin. He pulled his hand out of the jet of water and examined it. It only looked slightly reddened and tingled a little. It would be a bit tender, but it didn't look like it was going to blister. Then he turned back towards Matt, who was helping himself to some tea. "I beg your pardon?"

Matt stopped pouring tea into his conjured mug. "I'm sorry, I should have asked."

"No, you're welcome to some tea. I was talking about Mary and Nicolai. They're engaged?"

Matt grinned. "No, but that's what we wanted the Japanese to think."

"Explanations, please?"

"All right, we arrived in Japan, did all the formal mumbo jumbo with the one-sip-every-ten-minutes tea ceremony before we got down to business. Exposing Hishida was easy enough—the look on his face was priceless, by the way—but convincing the Japanese to break with their tradition was tougher."

Ron raised his hand to stop Matt. "Quick question, why did Ironheart bring Nicolai along to such a high stakes negotiation?"

"I was coming to that," Matt said. "At the meeting, it was _Nicolai_ who did the talking. Yuriko, Shinji and Matsu taught him the high language of the court as well as everything about their customs and philosophy, and the kid soaked it up like a sponge. He used everything he'd learned to blow the emperor and the ruling council away."

Ron knew that much. He'd asked Matsu about the specifics of the curse, which basically amounted to the fact that no man from the Japanese Imperial Wizarding Realm would be able to breed male offspring for the imperial bloodline. The way out—though the Japanese had never dared to even consider it—was quite simple. Mayumi's husband had to be a foreigner, or gaijin, as the Japanese referred to them. Of course, that was an enormous taboo. While exceptions could be made for foreigners of great renown to marry into lesser families, the imperial family was off limits.

"I know that was the plan. But _why_ _Nicolai_? He's just a little boy," Ron said, remembering how McGonagall had not taken Harry seriously when he'd warned her that the Philosopher's Stone was in danger.

"Wrong, mate! He's not just a little boy. He's a genius. Did you know that he had a plan to draw out Anastasiou, before Wolfe killed him and his lot and made it unnecessary?"

Ron nodded. The plan had been to put some sort of recently developed, sophisticated and undetectable magical tracer on Charlie Jr and Jasmine, and send them away from Caer Sidi, dangling them like bait for Anastasiou. The reasoning behind that plan was that Anastasiou's ego—along with vanity, something that old vampires were prone to—and his desire to have all the world's Mind Readers under his control would entice him into taking the bait.

"Then you know what I'm talking about. All right, Nicolai spoke to the council, and the part where he told them that 'tradition served to enrich, and not to enslave a people' was simply brilliant. I think the idea that they'd been manipulated and, in a way, enslaved, was what swayed them into taking a vote. They wisely decided that it wouldn't be too bad to bend their rules if it served the greater good. It's odd, really. The moment we stepped into the council's chamber, Nicolai began to behave a bit like a wise old man. It was almost as if he were someone else. But it was still Nicolai. That's what impressed the council members so much. A little boy speaking with a legendary sage's wisdom, quoting their own philosophers to them. Wizards from the Orient believe that people like Nicolai are touched by the divine. Commander Ironheart knew this, which is why he brought Nicolai along."

"And where does the engagement with Mary come in?"

"Sayuki was so impressed with Nicolai, that he asked Nicolai if he'd be willing to be the one to save the empire from the curse."

"He wanted Nicolai to marry Mayumi?"

"After coming of age," Matt nodded. "Anyway, that's when Nicolai told him that he was already promised to someone else. When the emperor asked whom, Nicolai said Mary. I felt that Nicolai knew what he was doing, so I played along and confirmed it. Commander Ironheart later told me that if Nicolai hadn't given Sayuki a name, or if the girl he'd been promised to were anything less than equal to what the imperial bloodline had to offer, the emperor would have been offended. Since all of this happened _before_ the council voted on the matter, it was a good move."

Ron sipped his tea while he allowed the story to sink in. "So who is going to be the imperial consort now?"

"Who d'you think? The lucky little nerd with the lazy eye."

"Gavin doesn't have a lazy eye. Ptosis isn't the same as a lazy—" Ron began, when he stopped himself. "Bloody hell, I'm beginning to sound like Hermione."

"And is that a bad thing?" Hermione's voice came. Ron turned around and saw his girlfriend standing in at the open front door, looking windswept.

"No, dear, just an observation," Ron said meekly. "What happened to you? You look like you've been strolling in a storm."

"Since it was such a glorious morning, Lilia and I decided to fly home on her new carpet," Hermione said. Then she turned to Matt. "Shouldn't you be at home with your wife?"

"The moment I came home, she sent me out to buy her chocolate ice cream and pickles. Never mind that aside from some bakeries, the shops aren't open yet."

"How about that Pakistani bloke's twenty-four hour shop?" Ron asked

Matt pulled a small jar filled with pickles out of a pocket in his robes. "Been there, but he doesn't sell ice cream. I know better than to return home without it, so I thought I'd come over here and invite you two for breakfast in the Ruby Dragon Lodge."

"Are you buying, or is it a Dutch treat?"

"You know me better than that, Weasley." 

Hermione yawned. "Tempting, but I'm too sleepy and not hungry enough. I'm sure Ron would like to go. He needs a nice solid foundation to do his chores today."

"Just give me a couple of minutes to wash up," Ron said, before he raced up the stairs, took a quick shower and threw on some decent robes. He thought about shaving, since they'd be having breakfast at a relatively fancy place, but decided that it didn't matter, since Matt had some stubble too.

Matt gulped down the last of his tea as Ron arrived downstairs.

"All right, let's—" Ron's sentence faltered as he sniffed the air. "What's that smell?"

"Oh, that'll be the salmon I gave the cats. They kept scratching at your Perfect Preservation Cupboard like they were trying to tell me something, so I opened it and got it for them."

"Hey, they weren't allowed to eat that!"

Matt frowned. "Were _you_ going to eat it? Trust me, it must've been in there for too long, because it wasn't fit for human consumption anymore. The 'Perfect' before Preservation Cupboard is a marketing ploy. You can't leave things in there forever."

"I know that. But I'm pretty sure the salmon was still good."

"Nah, it wasn't. Trust me, it wasn't spoiled, but it wasn't fresh either. I can smell the difference."

Ron shrugged and grabbed his summer cloak. Since he was going out to breakfast, there was no real reason why the cats—which were now hissing and yowling over the salmon like two miniature lions squabbling over a fresh kill—couldn't have it.

Minutes later, on their way to the Ruby Dragon Lodge, which was also located on the city's third tier, they passed their former homes. When the Order of Illumination returned to Nomad Island, some of the homes the Rangers had put up for sale before their hasty departure were no longer available. The more expensive homes, like the townhouse where Ginny lived, Captain Faust and Lieutenant Cliff's place and Commander Ironheart's home had stood vacant, so their inhabitants had been able to move right back in. But the more affordable homes, namely the ones on the third tier, had been sold.

Under pressure from the Lord Mayor, his political rivals—who had been responsible for the Order's expulsion from Nomad Island in the first place—had to search for new housing for the Rangers if those Rangers affected so desired, either in the same price range or _better_. In case of a more expensive home, they'd been forced to make up the difference out of their own funds. This had left Ron and Hermione, Charlie and Jasmine, and Matt and Gudrun with larger houses than they'd owned before.

Ron and Hermione had gained a basement, while Charlie's new house was slightly bigger than the previous one. In a sense nothing had changed. Charlie and Jasmine lived across the street from them again, and Matt and Gudrun again were Jasmine and Charlie's neighbours once more. Wolfe and Galatea had also joined them there. Their house was next to Gudrun and Matt's, separated by an empty square.

"You know, I wanted to insist on getting my old house back," Matt began. "I mean, to me it had some sentimental value, you know? But I suppose Gudrun was right. If we're going to have more children, a bit of extra space won't hurt. The kids will all want their own rooms when they grow up. I'm also thinking about buying up the empty parcel next to my house, to extend it."

"Can you do that?"

"If it doesn't serve any other purpose, can't see why not. It's just an empty square facing the wall that separates the third and second tier."

Ron grinned. "Why the sudden craving for space? How many kids do you want?"

"That's up to Gudrun," Matt smiled. "Personally I wouldn't mind having a dozen, even if pregnancy _does_ turn Gudrun into a she-devil every single time. Actually, we decided to have at least two boys if possible, but no more than six kids. The child that's in her womb right now is a girl, baby Rachel, so I have four more tries before I'm out of luck."

"Another Ranger baby whose name starts with an r," Ron pointed out. Max and Galatea's baby had been named Robert. The chubby, rosy-cheeked little chap had Wolfe's dark brown hair, but Galatea's eye-colour and mouth.

"Yeah, baby Robert. Cute little guy, isn't he? Wolfe told me that Heidi's over there every minute of her spare time, annoying the hell out of him. Say's she'll turn his son into a sissy with those pale pink baby clothes she's bought."

Ron laughed. "I know. He's complained about it to me too. Well, at least they're miniature Quidditch robes from the Quiberion Quafflepunchers."

"Would _you_ wear pink, even if it _were_ a Quidditch uniform?"

"Not a chance."

Matt shrugged. "_I_ would. I know pink clothes don't make me less of a man."

"That's not why I won't wear pink," Ron countered.

"Really? So why won't you wear pink, then?" Matt challenged.

"Because it clashes with my hair."

"Yeah, and your face too," Matt said, before he erupted in laughter, drawing curious glances from early morning strollers. They strolled on in companionable silence, until a couple of teenaged wizards began to shout and point at the sky. 

"Hey, will you look at that!" Matt said. "Looks like Harry's doing his Superman thing again."

"Who is Superman?" Ron asked absently, while his gaze followed Harry.

"A Muggle comic book hero. Really, Weasley, you ought to brush up on your knowledge of Muggles."

Ron shrugged. "You should've seen some of the things Wolfe can do. He's got lots of Animagus forms, some of them magical animals. And he's also got this nifty power that allows him to multiply himself up to five times."

"Permanently?"

"No, the doubles disappear after a while, depending on how many he makes. A single one can last up to six hours."

"I wish I could do that," Matt smiled ruefully. "I could leave the double at home to take care of the wife, while I'd go off to play Quidditch with my mates."

"Yeah. Wolfe's new powers may not be as flashy as Harry's, but they're certainly useful."

"I heard that Harry can shoot curses out of his eyes."

"He can," Ron confirmed, remembering how bizarre it had been to see a pair of stunners shooting out of Harry's eyes and dropping a full-grown Hebridean Black dragon in a test to see exactly how powerful the spells were. "Hermione says there are probably many more powers waiting to manifest themselves. Did you know that Harry can possess people too?"

"Isn't that dark magic?" Matt frowned.

"I suppose many people have come to see possession as dark magic because the majority of wizards who've attempted or mastered it were dark wizards. But the pendant was created by a _good_ being. So it depends how you look at it. This ability might be a help to everyone who still has a parasitic personality inside them. Harry could get inside them and help them gang up on the intruder. Wolfe says that's how they got rid of the one inside him." 

"Point taken. So he could cure Vesta Gaal?"

"Hermione says they'll attempt it when they're sure that Harry has the power well under control." Ron pushed open the door to the Ruby Dragon Lodge and gestured for Matt to go first. "Flying comes to him naturally, but it seems he needs a little practice when it comes to possession."

*

It even beat flying with a broomstick. Soaring through the air, darting through clouds as free as a bird.

In the distance, Harry saw a pair of griffins circling above a valley in between a pair of hills, looking for prey.

With an exuberant whoop he shot across their flight path, eliciting a few angry shrieks. He didn't bother looking around to see if they had turned to give chase, because he knew he was simply too fast to catch. He felt _alive_, and he knew he owed it to Holly. There was still a tinge of sadness whenever he thought about her, but his talks with everyone whom she had saved had helped him put things into a more positive perspective.

He looped around and headed back towards the city. Ginny would finally be released from her mandatory bed rest today. She'd recovered quickly, and had been itching to get out for nearly a month. Hermione, however, had taken Holly's final words very seriously and had confined Ginny to her room, leaving it up to Lilia, Clara, Heidi and the Esklove sisters to make sure that Ginny didn't exert herself too much, except for the mandatory bouts of exercise to keep her muscles from atrophying. Whatever poison had coated Wormtail's darts had been very potent. Tests had shown that it could be neutralised with phoenix tears, but the speed with which it contaminated the body was even faster than basilisk venom.

At roughly half past seven, most Concordians were awake, and Harry got many surprised stares as he soared among the early morning traffic over the city, though fewer than when he'd first begun flying around. He touched down on Ginny's balcony. The door was open, telling him that she'd probably been expecting him. He knocked just to be sure.

"Come in, Harry," Ginny's voice echoed from the bathroom.

"Are you decent?"

"I'm covered by foam. And it's not like you haven't seen me before," her exasperated reply was.

Harry dumped his cloak onto her bed and strolled into the steamy bathroom. He looked at Ginny, her head the only thing poking out of a dense and aromatic bath foam filling the spacious bathtub. "I thought baths were best taken in the evenings, after a long, hard day. And did you nick Heidi's foam again?"

"I've had a long, hard three months, and I didn't nick Heidi's foam. She gave me a flask as a present," Ginny said. "I can't wait to get back to work. It'll help me get my mind off things. And I'm sure they could use me again, since Gudrun's too pregnant to do some maintenance chores."

"Did she come to visit you this week?"

Ginny nodded. "She and Mary came on Sunday, just after you left. It was sort of busy on Sunday. Farouk, Montalban and Malkova all dropped by."

Harry swallowed nervously. Those three, aside from himself and Wolfe, were the Rangers whom Holly had saved at Laketown. He could easily guess the purpose of their visit. He knew he could open himself up to her thoughts and find out what she was thinking and feeling, but once he'd learned to control his power, he'd vowed never to casually activate it again. He looked at the blue tiles that made up the floor "And what did you talk about?"

"You _know_ what, Harry," she chided gently. "It's okay for you to talk about it. Everyone's been walking on eggshells around me, but three months in bed gives one quite some time to contemplate certain things."

"What things?"

"Aren't you reading my mind?"

Harry shook his head. "Not now. I've found that answering people's thoughts tends to creep them out."

Ginny smiled. He'd almost forgotten how beautiful she was when she smiled. "I imagine it does. Well, I've been thinking about Fred and George…and Holly. When Ron and Hermione visited me for the first time after things settled down, I noticed that Ron was doing loads better with moving on than I was. At first I thought it was because he hadn't been the one who had killed George, and that he had his work to distract him. I resented him for moving on so easily, but in the last couple of weeks I've realised that there's another reason why he's in less pain. He can share it with Hermione, and I'm sure that Mum and Angelina can count on Bill and Percy to share their grief. I know Charlie was a big help while he was there, too. They're sharing their grief with family and friends… but I haven't really shared it with anyone."

"You weren't ready to share it," he said gently. " It sounds like you're ready to share it now, though."

Ginny nodded.

"So, what else have you been thinking about?"

"About what Holly told me. How I mustn't let my love be frightened and conquered by evil. Fred and George didn't let it happen. They lived their lives to the fullest, and they tried to get everyone around them to do the same. Angelina married both of them, and I know she's taken their message to heart. Neville told me she's handling her grief better he thought she would."

"You've heard from Neville?"

"He's sent me a few letters…" her mouth twisted in a sardonic grin, "…and some pictures of Malfoy's head in Diagon Alley."

Harry knew that after Faust had cut off Malfoy's head with an axe, it had been dipped into a preservative solution and shipped off to England for the British Ministry to do with as they pleased. Apparently they'd decided to put it on display. "I heard about that, but I haven't seen it. Where d'you keep them?"

Ginny pointed to the laundry hamper. "I knew you'd ask about it."

With a gesture, Harry summoned the yellow envelope that lay atop the hamper.

"I heard about the cursing out of the eyes. D'you even need that new wand you got?"

"Of course. I need it to do more complicated spells." Harry answered.

"Phoenix tail feather and Hazel, right?"

"Fawkes' feather, to be exact." Harry had been surprised to hear that Fawkes had donated another pair of feathers. "The new wand's also a bit longer than the old one, eleven and three quarters of an inch. Wolfe's wand is made out of wood from the same tree, and he's got the other feather. The only difference is that his wand's longer."

"Wands made out of feather from the same Phoenix, and wood from the same tree," Ginny muttered.

"Well, we _have_ been one person for a while. It took me a week to filter out all his thoughts and memories out of my head and put them in a Pensieve. Still, that's nothing compared to poor Commander Ironheart. He's filled over a hundred Pensieves, and there are still some foreign memories popping up in his head every now and then."

"Do you remember _everything_?"

"I'm not sure if there was a complete transfer, but I certainly know the most momentous events in Wolfe's life."

Ginny blushed. "Did you remember when he and Galatea…you know…"

"The back of Galatea's neck is incredibly sensitive," Harry said, a sly grin on his face. "And Wolfe knows that you like to have your ears nipped."

"I wonder if that's why he couldn't meet my eyes the first time he and Tea visited."

Harry grinned. "I have a hunch that it might be the reason, yeah. He's bashful that way."

He opened the envelope and took out three pictures. The first picture was a shot taken at some distance. Harry could still discern Malfoy's head. The mouth hung half-open, giving the head an appearance of startled surprise. The second shot was a close-up of a large sign that read: _May this be a warning to future generations that some things come at too high a price._ In the final shot, Neville's photographic self glanced to the left and to the right, before looking into the head's lifeless eyes and waving mockingly.

Harry slid the pictures back in the envelope and tossed it back on the hamper. "At least that git is out of our lives."

"What happened to Wormtail?" Ginny asked.

Deciding that small fish could be useful without being dangerous, Commander Ironheart had decided to _tag _Pettigrew with an authorised parasitic personality and release him into the 'underworld sea.' He'd hoped that it would help them hunt down Yamato, who had still managed to elude capture despite the fact that Ironheart knew about all his hideouts. Harry guessed that Yamato must have found a few new ones within days of the Laketown disaster, before the Rangers had regrouped enough for a concentrated effort to hunt him down. Harry would have preferred to see Wormtail's head right beside Malfoy's, but he realised that Ironheart's decision served the greater good. "I can't talk about that here."

"I understand," Ginny said.

A long silence followed, in which Harry simply watched Ginny as she scooped up handfuls of foam and applied it to her arms and legs, which she alternately raised out of the water. Finally he couldn't take it anymore. "Ginny?"

"Yes?"

"I—I want you to know that I'll be here for you, no matter what."

Ginny smiled. "I know you will, Harry. I want you to know that I decided to follow Holly's advice and take a leaf out of Fred and George's book. Life is too short to spend in hiding. And even if something were to happen to me, I know my loved ones are resilient. They'd cope with it. It will take a while to completely come to terms with our loss, but… I'm ready to let people back in." She looked him deeply in the eyes. "I'm really sorry for all the pain I've caused you."

He shook his head. "I know you never meant to hurt me. And I'd suffer all of it all over again, if that would ensure your happiness," Harry said earnestly.

Tears welled up in Ginny's eyes. "I wish… I wish I hadn't thrown the ring away."

"That's all right," Harry said. He untied the knot of the cord around his neck, and pulled it out from under his shirt, showing Ginny the ring. "I picked it up before I went to confront Malfoy. I couldn't bear to leave it behind. I…I had hoped that you'd want it back, someday." He rose from the toilet and kneeled by the bathtub.

Ginny's hand broke through the foamy surface of the water and accepted the ring. The moment it touched the palm of her hand, an amethyst light enveloped it. The silver turned into gold and the green zircon became a flawless oval ruby. Twelve tiny white diamonds seemed to sprout from the ruby, surrounding it completely.

"Harry, what did you do?"

Harry's eyes were wide with surprise. "That wasn't me, Ginny. That was you."

"But…I didn't do anything."

"Maybe it was subconscious," Harry suggested. "Some weird things have been happening to me too, lately."

Ginny shook her head. "That's because you've absorbed some of the pendant's powers."

"Perhaps…It might be possible that Holly's energy changed you a little," Harry said slowly. He couldn't be sure, but it seemed to be a good theory.

"So why haven't Hermione, Wolfe or Valentina Malkova changed?"

Ginny had neatly summed up the flaw in his theory, but he was already formulating an answer to that in his mind. "Maybe it's like a glass of orange juice. Holly was running out of energy when she went all out to save you, and thus you got the juice _and_ the pulp at the bottom of the glass, whereas the others just got the juice." 

He gently lifted the ring off her palm and slid it around her soapy finger. The tiny diamonds around the ruby glowed with a purplish light and the gold band shrunk to fit her ring finger snugly.

"It almost feels like part of me," Ginny said softly, looking at the ring in great wonder. The sparkle of the diamonds reflected in her eyes. "It's so beautiful. This is what the joy of the future could look like."

Harry couldn't quite follow her anymore. "What do you mean?"

"Remember when Holly told me that not getting together with you would deprive me of future joy, while past pain would remain with me?"

Harry couldn't really remember much of what had been said, because of his panicked state at the time. It _did _sound familiar, so he nodded.

"The ring that you gave me, the ring that Malfoy stole… It's come back to me. To _us_. And now it's changed, just as we've changed." Ginny smiled. "It _is_ a sign. You were right about that."

"What does it mean?"

"It means that it's very important to look forward and share your grief. Remember how we talked about it after Nathan died?"

"Yes."

"But when _I_ was the one in pain, I wasn't able to listen to my own wise counsel. I suppose that why it's so important to have your loved ones around. They remind you of what's important. Thanks for reminding me."

Harry blushed. "I didn't really do a good job. I should have paid more attention to what you were feeling, but I didn't until it was nearly too late."

"But when you did, you kept trying and never gave up on me, just like I didn't give up on you when you were hurting. That's just as important." She reached out to him and cupped his cheek, gently coaxing him closer as she partly rose out of the tub to meet him.

Harry slid his arms around her waist and nearly pulled her out of the bathtub as he drew her wet body to his own, feeling soapy water seeping through his uniform and dampening his skin. When he felt the tip of his nose touch her scalp, he pursed his lips and kissed her crown, inhaling a deep breath of air that was saturated with the exquisite scent of her hair, wondering how he'd ever mistaken her for another woman despite the bath foam's perfume. The way her skin interacted with the foam to form a sweet scent that intoxicated him with every breath he took was simply beyond the description of words.

Running his hands over her slick lower back, he lowered his head but a few inches and touched the rim of her ear with his lips in a brushing motion. Then he released a tiny breath in the shell of her ear, giving her goosebumps and causing her to shudder in his embrace. "I love you," he whispered, drawing a reply that was no more than a moan, yet conveying that her feelings matched his.

His lips slid from her ear to the nape of her neck, nipping the skin there, before he brought them back up along the curve of her jaw, close to her ear. She trembled even more in his arms as he nibbled on her earlobe, eliciting groans of approval. Then he returned to the sensitive skin along her jaw, tracing a path made of butterfly kisses until he reached the corner of her lips.

Harry lifted his lips away slightly, centred his lips above hers, and looked down into her needy eyes while he traced his hands along her spine. Then he silenced her impatient moan by planting his lips on her slightly parted, inviting ones.

And he kissed her. He kissed her as though, at that moment, nothing else existed in the universe. He kissed her as though his entire present life, past lives and future lives were wrapped up and concentrated into that kiss. He kissed her as though there was nothing else that he would rather be doing. Their hearts pounded in unison and the flames within their souls flared up to unprecedented proportions burning all the negative feelings to ashes.

Then Ginny returned his kiss, taking the earth from under his feet, and plunging him into a sea of passion. His soul was no longer in his body, he touched heaven and knew perfect happiness and bliss. What little that remained of Harry's rational mind marvelled at the intensity of the kiss. 

When his thoughts began to regain a semblance of cohesion again, he realised that he was soaking wet, and he felt Ginny wriggling under him as she tried to rise to the surface.

He quickly rolled onto his side, allowing her to squeeze past his bulk. After a bit of sputtering and coughing, she began to laugh at the top of her lungs. He simply stared at her flushed face as she roared in laughter, clutching her sides under the water's surface. Tears rolled down her face, mingling with the soapy bath water. Between that captivating sight and the incredible arousal forced upon him by the kiss and the proximity to her naked body in the cosy confines of the bathtub, everything seemed to be conspiring to make him forget to feel ridiculous. He merely continued to stare at her, enraptured by the hypnotic sight of her.

"Well, I hope you needed a bath," she said, after she'd settled down a little. "The foam's scent is a bit girlie, though, so I'm not sure if it'll agree with you."

Harry regained his composure and grinned. "Good thing my boots are designed to handle humid conditions." He hoisted his legs out of the tub and pointed a finger at each boot. Ginny looked on in awe as the laces undid themselves and the soaked boots slid off Harry's feet, seemingly of their own volition and settled on the bathroom floor. The socks followed suit, as did the long sleeved shirt. A bit of levitation made the removal of his trousers a whole lot easier, and it settled on top of the wet shirt and socks on the bathroom floor.

"Does your wand-less magic repertoire entail a Drying Charm?" Ginny asked, looking at the expanding pool of bath water on the floor. 

"See and be awed," Harry boasted. He stood up and extended his arm, splaying the fingers of his right hand and locking his gaze on the wet floor. Scrambling for a better vantage point, Ginny's leg kicked Harry's legs together, causing him to lose his balance again. In a desperate attempt to prevent his fall, Ginny grabbed his hips, trying to steady him. She lost her own balance and ended up pushing him out of the tub.

Half a heartbeat before what would have been a very unpleasant impact, he gathered his wits and halted his fall, hovering facedown, staring at his own reflection in the puddle on the floor. He flipped himself over and rose high enough to get his feet under his body.

"Harry, are you okay?" Ginny exclaimed anxiously.

"Fine," Harry reassured her. "You might want to put something for grip on the tub's floor, though." Then he realised that he was longer wearing his underwear.

"Looking for these?" Ginny held his boxers between her thumb and forefinger. "I tried to save you by grabbing the boxers. I'm afraid they tore around your legs when you fell."

"That's all right. Nothing a bit of magic won't fix." Harry held his hand out for the boxers, but instead of giving them to him, Ginny dropped them back into the tub and gave him an intense look one didn't have to be a Mind Reader for to understand.

"Why don't you come and get them?"

Harry's capacity for rational though again retreated into the darkest recesses of his mind, only to return in a diminished state when he and Ginny were in her bed three hours later, basking in the afterglow of their passion.

"Harry?"

"Hmm?" Harry replied groggily.

"Harry, I'm a Weasley."

Harry looked at her quizzically. "Ginny, you make me lose my mind, but not up to the point where I forget who everybody is. At least, not permanently."

Ginny shook against him in silent laughter. "I mean, I'm a Weasley, and I'm not on any kind of birth control."

Harry's heart skipped a few beats, only to make up for it moments later by hammering loose the ribs in his chest. "Oh."

She squeezed his arm affectionately. "I can't be completely certain, but I think you might get away with today's indiscretion, Mr Potter. The window of opportunity has passed already."

Harry relaxed a little. He very much wanted kids with Ginny eventually, perhaps in three or four years, but the more immediate future was a little less desirable.

"Harry?"

"Yes, Ginny?"

"We forgot to put up a Silencing Charm."

"Yeah, discretion isn't your forte, is it?" Lilia's voice came sounded through the wall, accompanied by a chorus of giggles.

***

****

The End

Author's Note: I'd like to thank the Academy, my mother, my father, my manager, my make up crew…wait, wrong speech.

Still, thank yous are in order. I'd like to thank everyone who has reviewed, be it to offer constructive criticism or just to encourage me along. I really appreciated it. I'd also like to thank those who have put me on their favourites' list, even though some didn't review. It still informed me that people _were_ reading and liking my interpretation of J.K. Rowling's excellent creation. A _special_ thanks to _her_ for allowing us to write fanfiction based on her works.

Last but not least, I bow to my talented and supportive betas, who helped me to write something of reasonable quality.

And now I'd like to burden you with one last request. If you have time on your hands, leave a review telling me about the things you liked best and did not like about this fic. I'm not talking about my rather SciFi-like interpretation of canon, (which is now A/U anyway) or the characterisation. (which is always subjective) 

An example of a flaw I'm talking about would be like the repetitiveness of Wolfe's supposed death in chapter 7, or maybe any loose ends you think you've spotted. (I especially need you to look for loose ends. I think I have them all covered for the sequel, but in case I missed one…) Another valid complaint would be if you think there are too much characters in the story, in your opinion. That's also something people have warned me about, and (in case any of you haven't noticed) I've ended up toggling back screen-time of characters like Galatea and Padma, in favour of characters who were much closer to the action. I'm _asking_ for reviews this time, so fire away. E-mails are also welcome, and I'll do my best to answer any questions you might have. (Except for; 'What will happen in the sequel.)

Also, was Mind War an overall improvement over Existence after Life? What do you think?

On a final note, the next story within this A/U will be titled **Union**. (It is NOT the real sequel to Mind War, though it _will_ build upon MW and EaL.) It will be a short fic about Harry and Ginny's wedding, and the first chapter will be posted in seven days. I'm also toying with the idea for another short ficlet from Wolfe's point of view, which will tie in to events of the third story in the trilogy. It would make the third story much easier to write, since I'd have to do far less explaining in the narrative. I want to know if there's any animo for a story that isn't written from a canon character's point of view. Let me know, please?


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